


What Vex All Men

by HeliumStar



Series: Vexing [1]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Older Sister, Original Character(s), Romance, basically following the movies with changes, because that's what she is, everyone's in for it now, what's the female version of womanizer?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-01-22 08:39:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 62,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12477664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeliumStar/pseuds/HeliumStar
Summary: Returning from England for her younger sister's wedding is Victoria Swan. Fashionably late, she discovers that her sister's wedding was interrupted by more than rain and that her sister and future brother-in-law has been arrested. Victoria takes it upon herself to help them however she can.





	1. A Thug in a Powdered Wig

**Author's Note:**

> This just happens to be my first fic on this site and I'm excited! I'd love it if you left a comment telling me what you think! And if you find any errors, grammar or typo, please point them out for me. I want to learn and get better!  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Edit: I changed the title. Ugh, I'm an indecisive child. (Previously "A Fancy Title")

The young English woman stomped up the stairs, the click of her heels tapping against the marble and the fabric of her skirt brushing the floor around her feet. "This is outrageous!" Shouted Victoria as she pushed the doors to the Swann estate open. 

"Oh, dear." Her father, who'd been waiting in the hallway inside, jumped when his oldest daughter burst in through the door. "Victoria, dear! You're here!"

"Damn right, I am!" Victoria put her hands on her hips. She looked positively fuming and behind her came a short man carrying several large luggage trunks stacked on top of each other. "See, I expected my sister and her new husband to greet me at the docks and what am I met by? No-one but bloody soldiers and greedy sailors!"

Weatherby Swann frowned. "Please, dear. Watch your language," he said. He tried to be stern, but it sounded like a plea. 

Victoria stomped her foot. "I will not! Not while my baby sister rots in a cell! On what charges? Ridiculous ones! Wait until Captain Beckett-"

"I-It's Lord now, dear," Weatherby tried to correct her.

"Oh, Lord my arse! A thug in a powdered wig!" Victoria Swann huffed, and she turned to the man behind her. "Bring my belongings to my room, at once! And prepare my blue  _Plourde_ dress. I am going to have a word with  _Lord_ Beckett." 

Weatherby jumped towards her. "Oh, dear. Would you please, stay out of it? One daughter in a cell is bad enough. My heart won't handle two." This time he begged. "Wouldn't you rather stay at home? You've only just arrived, and the trip from England is so long." He smiled at his daughter and took her hand in his. "Why don't we sit for a moment and chat about your time in Europe? I've missed you so, and your stories have always brought me some peace."

But Victoria would not have it. Her mind was set on one thing; getting her sister out of that cell. "That can wait, father. Right now, I've more important things to do. Poor Elizabeth must be devastated! I'll go and see her immediately." Victoria marched towards the stairs. "I'll change out of these clothes and go as soon as I can." And with that, she ascended the grand stairs and disappeared out of sight.

Her father sighed and rubbed his head. It seemed both his daughters had a mind of their own, and no matter what he said or did they always seemed to do the opposite. They were both strong women, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Though, he thought, it would bring some peace to his weary soul to know that they were both safe and didn't deliberately rush into whatever trouble was stirring. Victoria was a rebel compared to her younger sister, and she'd been on her own for years and managed just fine. Part of Weatherby wanted her to stay the adventurous young woman she was, and another part wanted her to settle down with a nice man and give him some grandchildren. For all he knew, Elizabeth would be the one to bring him his wanted grandchildren, but now that her life soon hung by a noose, he feared much more than the lack of children in the house.

Not long after she'd gone upstairs, Victoria came back. She was now dressed in an ornate dress made out of velvety blue fabric, with lace lining her neck and cleavage. "Now," she said with a wide smile on her face, "I'm off to see my sister and speak a few words with the pig that keeps her captive."

"Victoria..." Weatherby sighed, but his daughter wouldn't hear it.

"I'll be back, father. Believe me." Victoria walked with determination towards the door, and her father knew that it was useless to try and stop her. It was probably easier to stop a hurricane. Her departure was just as dramatic as her arrival, and she left the doors to the estate open as she made her way down towards Port Royal.

Every pair of eyes followed her as she strode towards Fort Charles. Several guards tried to stop her, but she walked nonchalantly by them and proceeded towards her destination, to meet with Lord Beckett.

He had a slight look of surprise on his face when she stormed into his office. The glasses and trophies on the shelves shook when Victorias Swann threw open the doors. "Ah, another Swann..." Lord Beckett rose from his seat and straightened his coat. "Newly arrived from Europe I take it. You look lovely as ever, Victoria." His voice was dull, and his boredom was evident.

Victoria forced a smile, "Your dashing looks have only just faltered, dear. Five years seems to have taken their toll." She walked around Beckett's desk and one man, out of the array of guards that had tried to stop her, stepped forward. 

"Miss Swann, you cannot-"

"Oh, leave her," Lord Beckett dismissed his guards. "Close the doors and give us some privacy, please."

The men nodded and hurried to leave the pair alone. Victoria studied the maps sprawled across the tables. "Big table for big plans, my Lord? It is  _Lord_ now isn't it?" Victoria looked at the man across the room. "Imagine my surprise when I docked this morning and heard of  _Lord_  Beckett."

The Lord pressed his lips together into a thin line and put his hands behind his back. "Imagine  _my_  surprise to have a former fiancé storm into my office."

Victoria snorted and looked back at the maps and the little makers strategically placed on them. She picked one up and studied it. "You're not exactly singing of joy, darling," she chuckled. "I'm here because I'd like to know why my sister was arrested, on her wedding day nonetheless!"

"You already know," Lord Beckett approached her and took the piece out of her hand. They looked each other in the eyes for a long moment. 

"You're absolutely right, I do," Victoria breathed. "And what does a woman have to do to get Elizabeth out of that cell?" Her tone was seductive and low, her body language suggestive. 

"Oh, please," Lord Beckett rolled his eyes. "We're here again?"

Victoria took a step back, her face was painted with feigned innocence. "Why, my Lord, I don't know what you were thinking of, but I was certainly not offering what you're suggesting." She rounded the desk and sat down in the Lord's chair. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement."

Lord Becket watched her for a while and then placed the piece he held back in its place on the table. "I do desire something I do not yet possess. Unfortunately, it's in the hands of a man far away from my reach. I myself will not be able to get my hands on him nor the trinket he carries," he turned to look at Victoria, "but I've already sent someone who should be able to convince this man to... relieve himself of it."

"And who might that be?" Victoria leaned back in the chair and made herself comfortable. 

"Strange, I believe you just missed him. It was your brother-in-law," Lord Beckett smiled. "Or... well, we'll see about that, won't we?"

Victoria jumped back up on her feet, the heels of her shoes making a rather loud thud against the hardware floor. "I see," she said. "Yet again, I am going to have to find another man to do things you can't." She smirked, and the Lord glared at her. His cheeks had a hint of red in them as he watched her head towards the door. "It's been nice to see you again, Cutler," Victoria said once she stood by the door. 

"Yes," Lord Beckett gritted out between his teeth. He struggled to remain courteous. "Should I anticipate your return?"

With a final smirk, Victora looked at him from over her shoulder. "Is that what you did when I left for England? Well... I did come back, didn't I?" She didn't give him time to answer and left without another word.

...

Upon returning to her family mansion, Victoria found both her father and who would be her brother-in-law; William Turner. The two men turned to her when she entered the room they sat in. "Victoria, thank God," Weatherby sighed in relief. "For a moment I thought you'd ended up under Fort Charles."

"Don't worry about me, father. I can handle Beckett just fine," Victoria said. "You must be William. Elizabeth speaks well of you in her letters." She looked at her sister's fiancé and smiled. "You've made her very happy, thank you for that."

William rose from his seat and took her hand. "I've heard much about you, Miss Swann. It's a pleasure to meet you, finally." He kissed her hand.

Victoria giggled and swatted him away. "Oh, a charmer! My sister's finally gone and done it," she gushed. "And please, call me Victoria."

"There are similarities," William pointed out.

Weatherby smiled tiredly. "They get it from their mother," he explained. 

"Yes, but enough about that. Cutler told me he's sent you out on a mission. Where are we going and what are we fetching?" Victoria seated herself in one of the chairs next to her father. 

"You," her father said, this time with a very stern voice, "are not going anywhere. Certainly not where he's going." He pointed at Will. "It's far too dangerous, and I will not risk both my daughter's lives."

William seemed to agree, but Victoria became livid. "You cannot tell me what to do any longer, father. I am a grown woman, old enough to make my own decisions. I want to help my sister, and you can't stop me."

Once again, Weatherby seemed to deflate and give up. "Oh, dear," he sighed hopelessly. "When will this end?"

While the Governor grumbled about his woes, William filled Victoria in on what he'd discussed with Lord Beckett. His mission was easy, or at least it was in theory. Find Jack Sparrow, recruit him as a privateer and acquire his compass. 

William looked at Weatherby. "We need to leave as soon as possible, but I've got to see Elizabeth before we go."

"It's 'we' as in the two of you, then?" Weatherby sighed.

"I won't turn down help when it's offered, and I'll keep her safe," William promised.

A small smile tugged at Weatherby's lips. "Yes, and I know I can count on that." He nodded. "Very well, I now trust not one but both of my daughters into your care, William Turner. Please," he said, "do not let me down."

Without wasting much more time, they headed back to Fort Charles and down into the prison. Elizabeth sat in one of the cells with a guard outside it. She lit up when her family and fiancé came into view. William ran to her and grasped her hands through the bars with Victoria right behind him. 

The guard protested. "Mr. Swann-"

"Governor Swann, still," Weatherby said with confidence in his voice. "Do you think I wear this wig to keep my head warm?" Victoria was proud to see that her father remained an authority. The guard nodded and left.

"Elizabeth, when I told you to get in a little trouble I didn't mean it like this," Victoria smiled at her sister. 

Elizabeth smiled back. "Learned from my sister, I suppose," she said with a shrug. "And I heard about the compass, what would Beckett want with Jack's compass?"

"It doesn't matter," William said. "I am to find Jack and convince him to return to Port Royal and exchange the charges against us for his return."

"No," Weatherby interrupted, and his daughters looked up at him. "We must find our own avenue to secure your freedom."

Will didn't look happy. "Does that mean that you don't trust me to bring back Jack after all?"

Victoria looked between William and her father. Her father looked troubled but serious. "Just because you would risk your life to save Jack doesn't mean he'll return the favor."

"Then we don't give him a choice," Victoria said. "I'll drag him to Port Royal on a piece of driftwood if I have to!" 

Silence fell over them, and Victoria sighed. She and her father left the couple to say their goodbyes. Victoria peeked over her shoulder at her sister. Elizabeth looked happy, despite being behind bars and William looked at her like only one filled with love could. Victoria quickly looked away. Last time she'd been in Port Royal, Curtis Beckett had looked at her with that same look. She didn't want to be reminded. Leaving Port Royal had been the best decision she'd ever made, and she wasn't just about to regret it.

Victoria made her way up the stairs and out into the warm sunlight. On the battlements she spotted Lord Beckett, watching her. Soon, her father and William emerged from the prison. "Where will we find Jack Sparrow?" she asked.

"I don't know where he is, but I know a good place to start." Will walked with long strides away from the doors to the prison cells. "We're heading towards Tortuga."

Weatherby seemed most displeased. "I'd hate to see my daughter in such a place."

Victoria's shoulders tensed and her lips pressed into a pout. "Actually, father..." she mumbled. "I've already been."

Her father paled and looked as if he was about to faint. "A governor's daughter in a pirate port?"

"Pirate and pirate," Victoria muttered. "It's a colorful place with interesting people. Not my usual row but there's more to it than you'd think."

Weatherby did not answer to that and walked silently, following his son-in-law. Victoria trudged after them. They were going to find Jack Sparrow, they were going to bring him back to Port Royal, and they were going to get Elizabeth out of that cell... one way or another.


	2. They Love Me

Finding Jack would prove even more difficult than Victoria had imagined. Neither her and William had expected there to be so many rumors regarding the sought-after pirate and it took them weeks to find a reliable source.

Someone had heard from their lover's sister, that their landlord's friend's next door neighbor knew a sailor who knew where to find Jack. It was all terribly complicated, and the details were unclear, but at the end of the day, there was someone who knew where to find Jack. However, they were not in the port at the time being and would not arrive until the next day.

William and Victora would have to spend yet another night at a lively inn near the docks. They shared a room, mostly because William did not want to leave Victoria alone, but also since there was a lack of rooms in general.

It was their eleventh night in Tortuga, and they hadn't known silence since they stepped ashore. One cheery tune after another sounded from the saloon below, and joying cheering rang in the night. The only way to get an undisturbed night's sleep seemed to be to either knock oneself out or drink your consciousness away. The latter didn't sound all that bad to Victoria, and she became popular among the tavern's patrons quickly.

Singing, drinking and having a good time was what she liked best. It wasn't the posh soirees like those in France, and it wasn't dinner partied like with her friends in London, but it was equally as delightful, if not better!

"That's a night for me, lads!" Victoria bowed as she got out of the lap of a burly sailor. He, along with most others in the tavern, complained loudly when she made for the stairs. 

"No, not already? The night is young, Vickie!"

Victoria laughed, cheeks flushing red from the warmth and the rum. "I've business in the morning, and I'm leaving port soon!" Victoria spoke loudly to be heard over the music and the crowd. "It's been a pleasure." She bowed again, deeper this time. So deep that her hair brushed against the dirty floor.

With another wave of complaints and calls, the sailors asked her to stay, but Victoria was already halfway up the stairs. She made her way to the room at the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs. Various voices and noises sounded from the room, but the room she entered was silent and dimly lit. In the corner, sat William with a thoughtful expression on his face. Victoria removed her shoes and plopped down onto the edge of the bed in the middle of the small room.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Victoria asked. "If this lead's what it's made out to be, we'll find Jack soon."

William nodded. "Let's hope so."

With a slight groan, Victora rolled over to lie on her stomach. She braced her head in her hands and waved her legs back and forth as she watched William. "Are you always this worried?" She asked.

William gave a light chuckle. "My fiancé-  _your sister_  is imprisoned, facing execution. I've a right to be a little worried."

"I suppose you're right, but we've no reason to worry about any execution just yet. Trust me." Victoria rolled over to lie on her back. "If I know Cutler, and I do, he'll wait until either we or bad news return," she yawned and fanned her face with her hand.

"From what I've gathered, you were once engaged." William suddenly seemed interested. It wasn't a secret and Victoria hadn't been very secretive about it. "How did that happen? And why aren't you married?"

Victoria sighed dramatically. "It's a cheesy love story that didn't run its course," she said. "We were in love and got engaged. Everything was perfect until we traveled to England together. I suppose I was charmed by my own homeland and the neighboring countries. Suddenly, Port Royal seemed small and boring." 

William nodded as he listened. 

"So I left," Victoria mumbled as she stared up at the ceiling. "Not because I didn't love Cutler, but because I loved the world more. Of course, my leave didn't affect our relationship in a good way. It's not that we dislike each other, but there's a bittersweet feeling between us."

It was silent for a while, and William decided to ask, "Do you still love him?"

Victoria giggled. "What a silly question," she said. "But I suppose that I do, in a way. I wouldn't marry him to save the world, but I don't wish him any harm. I'm not sure how he feels either."

"I see," William nodded. 

"Anyway," Vitoria sat up and smiled at him. "We should both try and get some rest, I have a feeling tomorrow will be an adventure. Don't you?" William nodded, and they said goodnight. Victoria laid back down and turned her back against William.

She wasn't sure if it was the nostalgia of being back or the rum, or perhaps a combination, that made her think of the reasons she left. There hadn't been many, and it was a rash decision taken several years ago, there was nothing to do about it but look back and think about it. And thinking about it made her sad. Not for her own sake, but for the people she left behind. Had Port Royal looked very different if she'd stayed? 

Shaking those draining questions aside, she nestled into the bed, pulled the covers over her body and tried to go to sleep.

...

The sailor they were looking for seemed to be a shrimper. He sat on the docks and was in the middle of repairing fishnets when Victoria and William approached him. Victoria had abandoned her dresses for something more practical, a cotton shirt and vest over a pair of snug pants and leather boots covered her small feet. Her hair was braided and tucked in under a hat. 

The shrimper told them about an island south of the states where he'd spotted a ship with black sails. Matching the description of Jack's ship  _The Black Pearl._  

"Could you take us there?" Victoria stepped forward and asked.

The shrimper eyed her. He seemed to be reluctant to bring a woman on the ship, Victoria knew it was old sailor superstition, but agreed in exchange for some coin. 

They boarded the boat and sailed south. Soon enough, they neared an island and on its beach laid the Pearl, stranded. The ship appeared unharmed, but they needed to take a closer look and find Jack.

"My brother will take you there," the shrimper told William.

Along with a young and tall sailor, they were lowered down in a rowing boat. They were all silent until the shrimper's brother came to a stop. William and Victoria shared looks. They were just about halfway to shore.

"What's wrong? The beach is right there," William pointed out.

The sailor shook his head. "Ne bougeais pas, c'est trop dangereux." 

"What?" William looked confused. 

"Je ne peux, c'est trop dangereux, j'avais le dit." The sailor seemed reluctant to go on.

"Nous comprenons," Victoria said and looked at William. "He won't take us further, he says it's dangerous."

William nodded and stood up in the boat. They had no choice but to swim the rest of the way. They jumped into the water and swam ashore. "I didn't know you spoke French, Victoria," William said when they walked towards the Pearl. 

"Spent a few years in France and decided that I wanted to know what they were talking about," Victoria shrugged as she let her hair out and let it hang loose to dry. She placed the hat back on her head to shield herself from the sun.

They stood by the beached vessel and looked up towards the deck. "Jack!" William called. "Jack Sparrow!" He tried to call other members of the crew while Victoria had a look around. The ship seemed abandoned, which meant the crew and the Captain were somewhere on the island. Hesitantly, the pair walked into the palm jungle to search for the crew. The jungle was full of life, and Victoria didn't seem overly excited to be trudging through mud and bugs.

A colorful bird fluttered up and landed on a stump before them. It whistled at them, and William smiled. "A familiar face!"

The bird screeched and fluttered its wings. "Don't eat me!" It cried.

"I'm not going to eat you," William chuckled, trying to calm the upset bird.

Victoria bent down and picked up a canteen. "Someone's passed through here," she said and handed her find to her brother-in-law. "Seem familiar?"

"It's Gibbs'." William nodded. "They've got to be around here somewhere. Let's continue looking."

They both stepped forward, and a  _CRACK_ echoed through the air. Ropes twisted around them and a hidden net shot up from underneath them and scooped them up into the air. They were uncomfortably shoved together in the net and dangled several feet above the ground. 

William drew his sword to cut them loose when a group of people charged out from the bushes from all directions. They were all dressed in a tribal fashion, with war paint on their skin and bones dangling from noses or ears like jewelry and they all had a weapon pointed at the pair trapped in the net.

Victoria tapped William's shoulder. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

They were brought down and tied up by the tribal people and led through the jungle to what seemed to be a village. They walked on a narrow path, and over a rope bridge and ended up on a hilltop before a throne adorned with human skulls. On it sat a man that had eyes painted on both cheeks. 

"Jack?" William asked in disbelief. "Jack Sparrow."

The man on the throne glanced around and didn't look all that interested. Victoria watched the man too. Was this  _the_  Jack Sparrow she'd heard so much about? He didn't look all that much to her.

He got up from the throne and walked up to Willam and gave his arm a firm pinch. It didn't seem like he recognized him and William resisted the restraints. "Jack, it's me. Will Turner," he tried to clarify.

Jack walked over to one of the tribe's men with a disgruntled look on his face. He spoke to the man in a jibberish language, and the man responded. Jack then turned to walk away. Victoria spotted the compass hanging from his waist and got close enough to shove William in the side. 

"The compass," she whispered.

"Jack," William tried again. "The compass, I need it. Elizabeth's in danger. We were arrested for helping you."

"They're going to execute her!" Victoria chimed in.

Hearing this, Jack came to a stop. He looked at Victoria with studying eyes before issuing a command for the tribe. They cheered a response, and they started dragging William away. "Wait, what did you tell them? Jack!" William yelled as he was lead away.

Jack shot him a desperate look. "Save me!" Jack whispered.

Victoria was left standing for a moment before her ties were cut and a basket of shady looking fruit was shoved into her arms. The woman who'd given it to her glared at her and pointed towards a nearby fire. Not understanding what she was meant to do, Victoria wearily approached the fire, and the woman grabbed a handful of the fruit and tossed it into the fire. The flames licked at the fruit and seemed to grow larger and warmer. Victoria looked over her shoulder at Jack, who'd gone back to the throne and sat perched on it in a slightly nervous fashion.

Now that she'd gotten a proper look at him, she could tell that he was concerned about something. What she didn't know but if the man who talked to the tribe was nervous, she should be too. 

Without much protest, Victoria continued to shovel fruit into the growing fire until it was almost as tall as herself.

Several of the tribal women beckoned Jack to come closer, but he shot out of his seat and started protesting loudly. He spoke a mix of whatever language the tribe spoke and English. "No! No!" Yelled and gestured at the fireplace. "I want a big fire! Big fire! More wood!" 

Victoria backed away from the fire. The women of the tribe immediately started to load more firewood into the fire, feeding it to grow even larger. Victoria got close enough to Jack to ask him, "What's going on?"

"Bloody cannibals want to eat me," he whispered back. 

Victoria looked back at the fire and realized that the contraption over and around it was very similar to one that you used to roast meat on. She opened her mouth to speak, but when she looked back Jack was gone. "Hey!" She frowned but realized her shout and slapped a hand over her own mouth.

Five pairs of eyes looked at her and silence fell over the clearing. Victoria gave an innocent smile. "I lost him?" she tried to explain, holding her free hand up as a forfeiting gesture.

Cannibals, that's what the tribe were. Damned cannibals. Victoria shivered where she stood but tried to remain calm. "Uh... I come in peace?" she whimpered when a woman closed in on her. "Please, don't eat me." She dropped the basket and covered her eyes with her hands. If she was going to die she didn't want to see it.

A weight landed on her shoulder and claws dug into the fabric of her vest. "Arrk! Don't eat me!" It was the parrot they'd run across earlier. "Don't eat me!" It croaked.

The woman before Victoria gasped and backed away, putting her hand up and bowing down. She and the other cannibals started chanting in their jibberish language, and Victoria gulped. "So you listen to a parrot, but not me?" she asked them but got no answer.

She realized that the cannibals seemed to listen to her, but it was clear that did not understand her. "Where is William?" She asked. She held her hand up just a few inches higher than her head. "This tall, handsome with a sword?"

One of the young boys asked an elder something. "Sword," Vitoria held her hand by her side. "Sword," she repeated, playing charades with an imaginary sword. The parrot on her shoulder mimicked her, croaking 'sword' while flapping its wings.

The woman before Victoria nodded vigorously and held out her hand, reaching for Victoria's arm to make her follow. Hesitantly Victoria followed the woman back along the path and across another rope bridge, they entered another clearing and Victoria was lead into a hut. It was filled to the brim with weapons; swords, guns, spears, and clubs.

Victoria reached for and grabbed the sword she knew was William's. It was neat and distinctive among the many other blades. She tied it to her belt and turned to the woman. "Take me to William," she commanded. "The man who owns this sword." She pointed at the blade on her side.

The parrot on Victoria's shoulder agreed. "Will Turner! William Turner!" It cawed. 

Nodding, the woman lead Victoria on. Cannibals lined the path they followed, and they offered various items to Victoria as she passed. Crude accessories made out of bones, baskets of food and sticky flowers.

Someone placed a wreath of the flowers over Victoria's hat. The plants smelled awful. 

Soon they neared a long rope bridge that was just plants spread over some rope without any proper handles. Victoria gulped as they neared the edge of the cliff. Down under the bridge, hung two spherical cages that contained what she assumed was the crew of The Black Pearl.

"Will!" She shouted, and a man in one of the cages looked up.

William stuck his head out of between the bars of the cage. "Victoria!" The rest of the crew seemed to come to life in the cage, and several heads protruded from the cage to see who William was shouting at. 

Victoria turned to the woman behind her. "I want them brought up," she commanded. "All of them. Up!" She pointed at the cages. "My friends," she said and pointed to herself. "Bring them up." She pointed at the cages again.

"Up up!" Cawed the parrot.

The woman answered with something Victoria didn't understand. Nevertheless, the cages were brought up and set down unto the ground on the edge of the cliff. As Victoria approached with a following of cannibals behind her, one of the cages stirred as the crew within made their move to escape. A bad move made the entire cage roll back over the edge of the cliff and plummet down towards the bottom.

Victoria stared at William with wide eyes. "Roll them away from the edges, you daft fools!" She shouted and ushered whoever was behind her to roll the round cage away from the cliff. "I am so glad you're alive," Victoria whispered as soon as she got close enough to William.

"The same goes for you, but we don't have much time, we have to find Jack before they-"

"Before they eat him. Yes, I figured that out," Victoria looked upset. "I don't know what's gotten into them, but I think it's got something to do with the parrot." She pointed at the parrot on her shoulder.

"Ark! All hands on deck!" The bird croaked.

William nodded. "That's an idea if I've ever heard one."

Victoria glanced over her shoulder. "I'll distract them. You get back to the Pearl, and I'll follow you whenever I can." She slid the sword through the bars of the cage without being seen. "I've got to find Jack."

"I don't like that plan," William shook his head. "I promised your father to keep you safe."

"Don't worry about me, I lived in London for three years! This woman knows how to handle herself." Victoria turned around and cleared her throat. "Take me to Jack!" She pointed to her eyes and cheeks. "I want to see Jack!"

"Be careful!" William hissed at her when she followed most of the crowd. 

"Don't worry, they love me." Victoria smiled.

Jack's first mate gave her a warning look. "That's what Jack thought, too. And they are going to  _eat_  him."

Victoria paled and gulped as she was lead back towards the big fire. Perhaps she had taken water over her head, and perhaps she shouldn't have given away her only mean of defense... She started to sweat as they were walking back and much more so when she spotted Jack tied to a pole over the raging fire.

"Ah!" he cried when he spotted her. "You've a way with them, too. Before they decide to cook you, would you convince them to let me go?" He looked down at the fire and blew on it as if he was trying to put it out like a candle flame. 

"You idiot!" Victoria shouted. 

A young boy came running, pointing the way Victoria and her following had just arrived. He shouted something that sounded like a warning before the entire tribe of cannibals ran after him with their weapons ready.

Jack and Victoria were left behind, alone. Jack nodded. "Nicely done. Would you help me down?"

The young woman hurried to find something to cut the Captain loose of his restraints. Jack barely avoided falling into the fire and let out a relieved sigh. "My Lady," he bowed before her and then took off running along a path to the left.

"Hey!" Victoria howled and ran after him. "Wait!"

The parrot on her shoulder took off and flew ahead of them. Showing them the way back to the beach.

Victoria didn't know how they made it back to the beach, but by the time they ran across the damp sand half the tribe was on their tails, like a roaring wave of people chasing them. On the boat, Victoria spotted the crew working to get the boat back into the sea. The sails were already raised, and the ship slowly slid back into the water and became afloat.

With the power she had left, she sped up and jumped into the water, wading as fast as she could out to the boat and climbed aboard. William was there to pull her up on deck. He enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank God you made it," he said.

Victoria panted, and returned the embrace. "I told you, you could trust me." She smiled and turned to see if the man they were looking for had made it aboard.

Jack made it to the ship just as they cast off and climbed aboard the deck with a sigh of relief. On the beach, the tribe cried of disappointment as the ship, the crew and their Captain set sail for the open sea.


	3. A Woman

Jack Sparrow seemed to be on edge even after entering the safe space of his ship. He looked nervous, and his posture was wimpish. Victoria watched from a distance as Will stepped in front of Jack, finally gaining his full attention.

"Jack. Elizabeth's in danger," he said.

Jack pouted and looked between William and Victoria. "Isn't that her right there? Because if it is, I think she's out of most dangers now."

"No, Jack. This is Victoria, Elizabeth's sister," William explained.

A knowing look appeared on Jack's face. The smirk that stretched over his face made Will roll his eyes. "Naughty," Jack clicked his tongue. "Let me tell you this, sisters are trouble you don't want to get tangled up in. There's none more jealous than a sister."

"Jack!" William looked Jack in the eyes. The greetings were over. Now it was time to get to business. "Elizabeth is locked up in a cell, bound to hang because of helping you." Jack seemed like he had other things on his mind and moved to walk around William. Will drew his sword. "I need that compass, Jack. The compass for her freedom."

Victoria stormed up, wanting to join the persuasion efforts. "Hand it over, or I'll dump you into the sea," she said, standing beside William's blade.

Jack held his hands up in defense and slowly pushed William's blade aside. He ordered the crew to take him upriver. His first mate seemed confused, and they discussed for a few moments and William joined the discussion.

This time, Victoria had no say in it and backed off. She crossed her arms over her chest and went to sit on the stairs to the upper deck.

The men decided on something and split up. Will and the first mate headed up towards the rudder while Jack slipped into the Captain's cabin. Victoria followed him. "Jack Sparrow," she said when she stepped through the door.

"It's Captain, mind you," Jack corrected her. "I've got a ship, and you're on it." He looked confused. "Why are you on it?"

"I'm here to rescue my sister. She's in trouble because of you," Victoria marched up to the pirate and poked him in the chest. "You better man up and do everything you can to help her out, or you're going to have to deal with me."

Jack eyed her for a moment. His lips formed an impressed pout. "Deal with you how?"

Victoria shoved him in the chest. "Oh, you'll find I'm quite a bother when I want to."

"I've found that most women have that ability," Jack frowned and turned around, heading towards the corner of the room. "I'll consider helping her after I've dealt with some business of my own. It seems I'm a wanted man."

The young woman glared at him as he cowered in the corner. "What in God's bloody name are you doing? You're the Captain of this ship, and you're... hiding in the corner?!" Victoria put her hands on her hips. "Here I went and believed in a Jack Sparrow that bravely sailed the seas, not stayed holed up in his cabin."

"It's Captain," Jack corrected her again, "and I do what I please, it's my ship!"

"For all I know, you are a stowaway, Jack Sparrow." Victoria shook her head. "I don't know what kind of Captain you think you are, but where I'm from a Captain takes command of his ship."

Jumping back up on his feet, hand on the hilt of his sword. "You Swann women are a handful," he grunted and stepped back out through the doors and up the stairs to the rudder, where William and Gibbs charted a route.

Victoria followed him with her arms crossed over her chest. The Captain looked childishly angry but butted into the conversation with an obnoxious sigh. "Gentlemen, you might wonder why I've gathered you. William," he said in a formal tone, "I will trade you the compass," he reached into his coat and brought out a piece of cloth, "for this." He showcased the drawing on the dirty rag and William took a good look at it.

"You want me to find this?"

Jack pointed at William and flashed a brief yet charming smile. "No, you want you to find this. Because finding this finds you incapacitorially finding and, or locating and your discovering the detecting of a way to save your dolly belle ol'... whats-her-face. Savvy?"

"That didn't make a lick of sense," Victoria said.

Jack looked increasingly frustrated. "Why is there a woman on my ship? Can someone get rid of her?"

"Like it or not, Jack. She goes where I go," William said. "Will this, or will this not help me save Elizabeth?"

An unreadable look spread across the Captain's face. He settled down and looked at the drawing once more. He thought for a moment before he looked up and gave William a mysterious look. "How much do you know about Davy Jones?"

"Not much," William said. Victoria couldn't say she knew anything about him either, whoever he was.

Jack nodded. "This will save Elizabeth." Jack straightened where he stood.

Victoria sighed and left the men alone. Jack glared at her. "It's in their blood, I swear..." he muttered. "How do you stand it?" He looked at William with a baffled expression. "You'd think they'd have manners when they grow up in a mansion."

William shrugged. "She's not that bad, Jack." He leaned closer to share some gossip. "She knows Beckett better than everyone, too. They were once engaged," he explained in a lower tone, not to alert his future sister-in-law of the gossip.

"Can't imagine why that didn't work out," Jack snorted.

"I can hear the both of you quite clearly!" Victoria growled from the lower deck. The men above deck silenced down and Victoria climbed down and seated herself on top of a crate down below deck.

She was exhausted, and the gentle rocking of the waves made her eyelids heavy. Below deck, it smelled of salt from the sea and gunpowder from the crate she sat on, but Victoria didn't mind. There were worse places, and the filth didn't bother her.

Victoria let out a long sigh and smothered her hands over her face. Perhaps it would have been best if she'd remained in Port Royal with her father? Perhaps she should have stayed in Port Royal all those years ago, too.

Victoria Swann wasn't one to think about the past, and she certainly wasn't a woman of regret. Yet for the past few days, she'd been questioning her decision to leave Port Royal more times than she could count. Her family, what was left of it, resided there and she'd spent most of her youth there. Cutler had been a nice addition to her life when he showed up, and for the longest of times, they had their minds set on marriage. Would they have had children by this time, if Victoria had chosen to stay? Had they even been together still?

"Victoria?" William peeked down from the upper deck. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Victoria nodded. "Just... he isn't what I expected."

William smiled and climbed down the stairs and stood before her. "He's more than he seems," he assured. "Don't take him too seriously, though. You'll never know where you end up."

"I have a bad feeling about all this..." Victoria shook her head. "Don't wander off, alright?" The concerned look on her face worried William, but he promised to keep her within his sight.

They spoke no more for a while. Victoria and William both returned to the deck and watched the day turn into night. They docked near an island, and half the crew piled into awaiting longboats. Victoria wasn't so sure she wanted to go but didn't want to stay behind when William left the ship.

They rowed upriver in silence. The river turned into a swamp with twisted roots and vines slithering in and out of the murky water. Only God knew what hid under the surface. William was the first to speak since they got into the boats.

"Why is Jack afraid of the open sea?"

Mr. Gibbs, the first mate, shook his head. "Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that suction your face clean off," he said and gestured with his hand around his round face. "And it can drag an entire ship past the crushing darkness... the Kraken."

Victoria shuddered. It sounded ominous and not like anything she wanted to see or stumble upon.

"And this key will spare him that?" William arched an eyebrow.

"That's a very good question. One that Jack wants answered." Gibbs nodded. "Bad enough even to go visit her."

"Her?" Victoria questioned. "There's a  _her_ out here?"

"Aye." Gibbs continued to row.

They approached a shack, suspended over the swamp's cluttered water. Looking around, Victoria realized that they were not alone. People stood in the shadows, watching them float by in silence. How long had they been there? How long had they been watched?

Jack, who seemed less nervous, swatted away some flies. "No worries, mates. Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable we are," he said but seemed to change his mind, or hesitate. "Were." He corrected himself. "Have been... before."

"I'll watch your back," Gibbs assured him with a slight smile.

"It's the front I'm worried about..." Jack pouted.

Victora chuckled but silenced down as they docked and they got out of the boats. One man, that Victoria had learned was the owner of the parrot that had saved her life and was named Cotton, remained in the longboat. Strange choice of a guard, considering he was mute.

Jack entered the shack through the door and William right after. Gibbs allowed Victoria to enter before him. He seemed to be a trustworthy man, and Victoria hoped that Gibbs had it in him to watch her back as well as his Captain.

A woman sat in at a table in the shack. She had a heap of crab claws before her, and she seemed to be studying them intently. Her skin was dark and her lips darker, bordering on black. 'Voodoo' was the word that appeared in Victoria's head.

The woman looked up and smiled. Her smile wasn't friendly by definition, and there was a strange feeling in the shack. "Jack Sparrow," the woman said.

"Tia Dalma!" Jack greeted her like you would greet a good friend you hadn't seen in a long time.

"I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day," Tia Dalma said, and her eyes wandered to William. She got up and walked up to him with the same studying gaze she'd had while watching the claws on the table. "You," she said, "you have a touch of... destiny about you, William Turner."

How could she have known William's name? Victoria stood like dumbfounded, and Tia turned her attention to her. "Hm," she hummed. "Not Elizabeth."

Victoria sighed. "Is that who I'm known as nowadays? Not Elizabeth?" She couldn't help but express her annoyance.

"You've a man waiting for you. An unfettered man, an uncertain man... a dangerous man." Tia shook her head. "You like the freedom, but you need a constant... Heart drawn to danger but you will learn... You will be torn..."

"What do you know?" Victoria wrapped her arms around herself and inched closer to William.

"There'll be no knowing here," Jack butted in. "We've come for help and we won't leave without it." He paused and for a moment he looked a bit hurt. "I thought I knew you," he said.

Tia gave a light shrug. "Not so well as I had hoped." She turned back to the table. "Come." She sat down and Jack and Will joined her around the small table. Victoria chose to hang back near the door. "What... service... may I do you?" Tia Dalma asked. "You know I demand payment," she added in a low tone.

"I brought payment," Jack assured and whistled once. A crew member came into the shack with a cage in his hands. Within it was a small monkey dressed in a tiny shirt and pants. "Look!" Jack brought out his pistol and fired it into the cage.

Victoria jumped, glaring at the pirate. "Jack!" She gasped.

The monkey seemed unaffected by the bullet if a little riled up after the bang. "An undead monkey! Top that!" Jack grinned.

With a smile, Tia took the cage and opened the cage door. The little monkey quickly climbed out and scurried away. Gibbs protested. "No! You've no idea how long it took us to catch that."

"The payment is fair." Tia Dalma cared not for Joshamee Gibbs' woe.

Jack took out a piece of cloth from within his coat. The same cloth with the key drawn on it. "We're looking for his, and what it goes to."

"The compass you bartered from me. It cannot lead you to this?" Tia looked at Jack with a mildly surprised expression.

Jack drew back. "Maybe. Why?"

Grinning, Tia tapped the table before her. "Ah, Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants!" she chuckled. "Or," she continued in a more serious tone, "do know, but loathe to claim it as your own." She was silent for a moment and William glanced over at Victoria.

She knew what he was thinking. If Jack didn't want to go find whatever it was he was looking for himself, then it wasn't good.

"Your key goes to a chest, and it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?" Tia Dalma asked. She looked mysterious when she spoke and for whatever reason, the small shack seemed to have grown darker.

Victoria inched even closer to William, so close that her arm brushed against his shoulder. He was the only one she knew there, and the one man she trusted. "What's inside the chest?" She asked, her voice not more than a whisper.

Pintel, one of the crew, piped up. "Gold!" He guessed. "Jewels?" He tried again. "Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"

"Nothing bad, I hope," Ragetti, another one of the crew, muttered.

Tia Dalma tilted her head to the side as she watched William. "You know of Davy Jones, yes? A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he ran afoul of that which vex all men."

"What vexes all men?" William asked.

The crew started their guesses. "The sea?", "Sums!", "Dichotomy of good and evil."

Jack looked thoughtful while his crew guessed away. Victoria shook her head. There was only one thing that could ruin a man life like that. Legendary man or not. "No," she said. "A woman."

Tia Dalma smiled. A wide grin that exposed her teeth. "A woman. He fell in love."

"No-no-no," Gibbs shook his head. "I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."

With a nonchalant shrug, Tia continued. "Same story, different versions, and all are true," she said. "See, it was a woman as changing, and as harsh, and untamable as the sea. He never stopped loving her, but the pain it caused him was too much to live with. But not enough to cause him to die."

William's already serious expression darkened. "What exactly did he put in the chest?"

"His heart." Tia's voice was low and her eyes dark with mischief.

Ragetti gulped. "Literally, or figuratively?"

"He couldn't literally put his heart ina chest!" Pintel protested but looked uncertain and a little bit frightened. "C-Could he?"

"It was not worth feeling what... small, fleeting joy life brings." Tia clasped her hand into a fist. "And so he carved out his heart, locked it away in a chest, and hid the chest from the world." She made a stabbing motion to her chest. "The key, he keeps with him at all times."

William turned to Jack, who didn't look as surprised as the rest of the crew. "You knew this."

"I did not know!" Jack insisted. "I didn't know where the key was," he clarified. "But now we do, so all that's left is to climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass."

"It can't possibly be that easy!" Victoria put her hands on her hips.

Jack hushed at her and swatted her hand in her direction. "Shoo, you. I don't want any of your bad luck near me when I speak of this."

Tia Dalma watched him for a moment and then stretched out her hand towards the Captain. "Let me see your hand."

Hesitantly, Jack reached out his right hand. Tia smiled and then grabbed hold of his left hand. It was wrapped in a filthy bandage. She unwrapped it while the crew curiously watched on. When the bandage was gone, it revealed a large black spot in the middle of Jack's palm.

"The black spot!" Gibbs gasped and quickly wiped his hands on his chest, spun around once to the left and spat on the floor. Pintel and Ragetti promptly mimicked his ritual, in synchrony.

Jack sighed. "My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know."

Tia Dalma got up and walked towards a back room. She pushed aside the drapes of beads and entered the room in search of something. "My little... where are you?" she hummed to herself.

Victoria leaned down to whisper in William's ear. "Who is Davy Jones?" she asked him. "He must be a ghost or a legend." She frowned. "He can't possibly be real."

William shrugged, he didn't know either.

Tia came back with an object from the back room. It was a jar filled with sand or dirt. "Davy Jones cannot make port, cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow," she said. "And so you will carry land with you."

She handed the jar to Jack and his eyebrows furrowed together as he inspected it. "Dirt?" he questioned her. "This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes." Tia smiled.

Jack seemed to have questions but not want to ask them. "Is the... jar going to help?"

"If you don't want it..." Tia began, "give it back."

"No." Jack clutched the jar against his chest.

"Then it helps."

William shifted in his seat and leaned closer to the table. "It seems..." he mumbled. "We have to find the Davy Jones." He glanced at Victoria. She looked frightened out her mind but determined to stay and to help in whatever way she could.

They simply had to go and find a legendary ship, and it's mythological Captain to retrieve a key to a chest containing his heart. Whatever that meant.

Victoria nodded, and William turned back to Tia Dalma. "Tell us how to find the Flying Dutchman."


	4. The Flying Dutchman

After days of sailing, they ended up near some island covered in cliffs and rocks. Victoria was glad to see something other than the open sea, but there was a weird feeling in her stomach that day. She didn't like the idea of William having to go through whatever danger Jack Sparrow sent him to. What would Elizabeth say if her husband-to-be went and got himself lost at sea? No, Victoria had decided the moment they left Port Royal that she was going to look out for William.

By the cliffs near the island laid a ship, scuttled on the shallow rocks. William, Jack, and Victoria stood by the railing and watched the ship from a distance. It was dark, and the Pearl's deck was lit up by several lanterns and a few candles.

William looked through a spyglass and then looked at Jack with an underwhelmed frown. "That's the Flying Dutchman? She doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," Jack said. "Do not underestimate her," he warned William, who gave Victoria a reassuring look. He could probably tell that she was worried. The way she curled up was as if she was waiting for disaster to strike. 

Jack cleared his throat, and Gibbs hummed. "She must have run afoul on the reef," he told William. 

"So, what's your plan?" Jack asked, sounding rather cheerful.

"Will," Victoria frowned, hoping for an elaborate plan without risks.

William handed the spyglass to Gibbs. "I row over," he said and pointed at the ship, "search the ship until I find your bloody key..."

"What if the crew is aboard?" Victoria asked. 

Jack was grinning from ear to ear. "Yes, what if there are crewmen?"

"I cut down anyone in my path." William sounded confident but Victoria much less so. 

"I like it," Jack approved. "Simple, easy to remember."

"Simple?" Victoria glared at him. "You are just going to send him off to an unknown ship and look for a damn key that may or may not actually exist?" She asked, flailing her arms about. "For all, you know you could be sending him to his death!"

Jack rolled his eyes and put his hand on her back. "Vickie, can I call you Vickie? See, I-"

"Friends call me Vickie, you are not my friend, Jack Sparrow." Victoria crossed her arms over her chest.

"Captain," Jack growled but quickly moved on. "I have the utmost faith in William, his skill, and his magnificent confidence. Also," he turned to William, "if you  _do_  happen to get captured, just say that Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt! Might save your life."

Ragetti gestured to the rowboat with a grin. "Your chariot awaits," he laughed as Will climbed into the boat. Victoria hurried to follow him, but she didn't get into the boat. 

"Will, I don't like this. Don't leave me alone here with him," she said, referring to the Pearls' Captain. "Let me come with you."

Will shook his head. "You stay here. I'll handle this."

 "This definitely counts as you wandering off," Victoria complained. "You promised not to. Please, let me come too."

"I'm not wandering off. I'll be right over there," he pointed at the scuttled ship. "It'll be fine, Victoria. I need you to keep an eye on Jack. Make sure he doesn't run off." William winked at her, and the rowboat was lowered into the ocean. Victoria leaned over the railing to make sure William was alright for as long as she could. 

"Douse the lamps," Jack ordered his crew to put out the lanterns and candles. The deck was soon lit up by nothing but moonlight. 

They watched William row over to the scuttled ship. Victoria realized how alone and scared she was without him around. She'd never been frightened of men, pirates or not, but just as William had promised to look out for her, she'd promised herself to bring him back in one piece to Elizabeth. How was she supposed to do that when she stayed on the Pearl and William rowed off into the night?

The crew loitered around the deck, they seemed to be waiting. Jack headed to the upper deck with his first mate and Victoria nervously paced across the deck. It was silent, and she didn't like it. There weren't normally any seagulls around, but the eerie silence was too much to bear. 

Victoria couldn't stand just waiting and watching into the dark. The lack of lights was unsettling and being on a ship with actual pirates didn't calm her one bit. She paced back and forward on the deck, her leather boots only made a soft thud compared to the noise her heels would have made. She was more than used to being on a boat, and the gentle rocking of the waves didn't disturb her at all.

She looked over at the abandoned ship again, she saw little to nothing in the dark and without a spyglass. "Jack," she made her way to the bridge. "Hand over the spyglass, I don't like this at all." She held her hand out and expected the Captain to hand over his spyglass.

Jack grunted before taking it out of his coat pocket. He hesitated before handing it over. "I'm still confused about why you are here. Do you contribute to anything while here? Or are you the stowaway?" He asked.

It was obvious that he upset the young woman and the way she glared at him made his shoulders drew up in defense. "Contributing or not, I'm here to make sure that  _you_  play your part in all this and come back to Port Royal with us. If you don't... then I'll have to make you."

"I'm uncertain if I'd like that or not," Jack muttered and then handed her the binocular. "Can't I ever meet a woman that's not completely unreasonable, or taken?"

"I can be reasonable when I'd like to," Victoria defended herself as she looked for signs of movement in the dark. "And it would take quite the man to take me."

"I consider myself  _quite_  the man," Jack told her with a confident smirk. 

Victoria glanced at him with an amused smile. She handed him the spyglass back. "I'm sure you do." She ventured back down the stairs.

Jack mimicked her in a mocking voice, "I'm sure you do." He sighed and ran his hands over the Pearl's railing. His ship was the only 'she' Jack could stand for a long period of time.

It felt like hours passed, though it was probably just minutes. Suddenly, the sound of the surface breaking and the water crashing back into the sea as a ship emerged from the depths. The Flying Dutchman. The ship looked as if it had laid on the bottom of the sea for some time, the sails were soaked, and everything had a slight greenish hue to it. Barnacles littered the side of the ship, and the front looked like the gap of a beast, with wooden boards and spikes forming what looked like a mouth. 

Victoria gawked at the ship and watched it glide through the water towards the scuttled ship, where William was.

"Jack!" She whispered, afraid to shout and ran up to the rudder, where Jack now stood. "We have to do something!"

Jack picked out his spyglass from the inside of his coat and used it to peer towards the two ships. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."

Victoria tore the spyglass out of his hands and used it to look herself. Through it, she could see the scuttled ship get overrun by the crew from the Dutchman. It was too dark to make out details, but she recognized one of the captured men as William.

"No!" She gasped and looked up at the Captain of the Pearl. "They have Will," she frowned, and Jack brought the spyglass to his eye again.

Victoria leaned over the railing to try and see the anything, but it was impossible in the dark. When she turned around she was met by a sight she'd never forget. A creature stood before her, with the body of a sailor but the head of a squid and claws instead of hands. Victoria screamed but a wet hand covered her mouth, and a blade was pressed against her throat. She silenced herself.

Another creature, or sailor as it looked to have been once upon a time, held her captive. Terrified, Victoria realized that the entire crew of the Pearl was being held behind blades. All except for Jack, who looked disgusted and extremely worried at the same time. There was little surprise in his eyes, which meant that he recognized the creature.

Realizing what was going on, Victoria knew that the creature before her and Jack had to be Davy Jones, and the creatures around them the crew of the Flying Dutchman. 

Davy Jones glared at Jack. "You have a debt to pay. You've been Captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years.  _That_  was our agreement," he said.

Jack looked as if he disagreed. "Technically, I was only Captain for two years, then I was viciously mutinied upon."

Victoria couldn't believe her ears. Here they all stood, threatened by blades and a ghostly crew, and Jack wanted to try and slither out of a deal? Hopeless, thought Victoria.

Davy Jones seemed to think the same. "Then you were a poor Captain for two years," he spat, "but a  _Captain_  nonetheless! Have you not introduced yourself all these years as  _Captain_  Jack Sparrow?"

"You have my payment," Jack changed his tactics. "One soul to serve on your ship is already over there." He pointed at the Dutchman. 

Victoria struggled against her captor. "You rumswiggling pig!" She shouted. "You'd sacrifice Will to save your own skin?"

The attention was turned to her, and Davy Jones turned where he stood to have a good look at her. His eyes darkened as he watched her. "A woman on a ship," he muttered. "Bad luck." He turned back to Jack. "One soul is not equal to another."

"Aha!" Jack cracked a smile and pointed at Dacy Jones. "So we've established my proposal is sound in principle, now we're just haggling over price."

"Jack!" 

"Price?" Davy Jones flared up. 

Jack seemed set on dealing. "Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?"

Davy Jones leaned closer. The tentacles on his face wiggled like a wet beard in the wind. "One hundred souls."

"And would you allow me time to gather these?" Jack asked.

Jones grimaced. "Three days," he grunted.

Jack smiled and nodded his head towards the cursed Captain. "You're a diamond, mate. Send me back the boy, I'll get started right off." Jack looked pleased with the outcome, but Victoria wasn't sure Jones was that easy to strike a deal with. 

Davy Jones laughed. "I keep the boy. A good-faith payment," he said. "That leaves you only ninety-nine more to go." He roared with laughter.

"No!" Victoria cried. "You can't!"

"Have you not met Will Turner?" Asked Jack. "He's noble, heroic,  _terrific_  soprano. Worth at least four... maybe three and a half." Jack tried to barter. 

His lame attempt to talk William out of the deal angered Victoria. "You can't take Will!" she shouted. "What will I tell my sister when I come back without her fiancé?"

"Yes," Jack nodded. Victoria's words had given him a whiff of inspiration. "Due to be married. Betrothed. Dividing him from her, and her from him... would only be half as cruel as actually allowing them to be joined in holy matrimony. Aye?"

"Jack," Victoria hissed. 

Davy Jones looked bothered but ultimately uninterested. "I keep the boy. Ninety-nine souls. But I wonder, Sparrow, can you live with this?" He asked. "Can you condemn an innocent man - a friend - to a life of servitude, in your name while you roam free?"

"Yes, Jack," Victoria growled. "You're ready to give up your friends and crew for this?"

Jack seemed to consider for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. "Yep!" He chirped. "I'm good with it. Should we seal it in blood? Ah- I mean... ink?"

Without warning, Jones grabbed Jack's hand. His tentacles moved over the palm, smearing mucus and slime all over it. "Three days," he muttered. "Three days."

With a roaring laugh, Davy Jones disappeared from the ship and so did his crew, leaving the Pearl with nothing but her own crew aboard. Victoria breathed out and looked at Jack. He was studying his palm and noted that the black spot was gone. 

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack became moving again. His first mate was with him in no time, not very taken aback with what had just happened. He looked disturbed, but the level of distress could easily be compared to much less daunting experiences. "Uh, I feel sullied and unusual."

"And how do you intend to harvest these ninety-nine souls in three days?" Gibbs asked politely. It was amazing how the first mate never questioned the Captain. Not even after being held hostage and witnessing a deformed Captain of a cursed ship ask for a hundred souls.

"Fortunately, he was mum as the condition in which these souls need be." Jack mused, giving his first mate a nudge.

Gibbs smiled, he understood. "Ah," he said. "Tortuga."

Jack nodded, and the crew set off to prepare the journey towards Tortuga. 

Victoria had finally caught her breath and come out of the shock. She grabbed Jack by the arm, clutching the coat with an iron grip. "You're just going to leave Will? Jack!" She cried. "You've killed him!"

"I've not killed him," Jack tore his coat out of her grip. "Eternal servitude and dead are two very different things."

"Eternal servitude is just as bad! Worse even!" Victoria shouted. 

Jack shrugged. "It's practically marriage." 

Victoria was fuming with anger. She rose her fist and swung it towards the Captain. He just barely managed to evade it and yelped as he scurried away from the angry woman.

"You've killed my brother-in-law! You chicken-hearted, greedy scamp!" Victoria stomped after him. If she'd had a weapon, it would be drawn, but she had nothing but her fists and those worked fine to her. "Brainless dalcop!" She yelled as she swung for him again.

"Mr. Gibbs?" Jack called as he rounded the mast to avoid Victoria and her swings. 

"I'll dunk you in a tub of blood and throw you overboard to the sharks! If you think that Davy Jones is the worst that could ever happen to you, I'll make you rethink it! You'll pay for what you've done!"

They chased each other around the mast. "I thought your sister was unreasonable," Jack grumbled. "Calm down!"

Victoria glared at him, her eyes practically shooting daggers. "I'll calm down when  _you_  find a way to fix this mess!"

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack called again, more distressed this time. His assailant's attacks were becoming more vicious and agitated by the second. He was worried that if she got her hands on something like a weapon he'd be done for.

"Miss Swann, could I offer you something for you frayed nerves?" Gibbs offered politely. "How about you have a seat while we take us to the lovely port of Tortuga?"

Victoria huffed but formed her self to calm down. She was angry with Jack, not anyone else and she needed to compose herself. There was no point in mauling the Captain since she still needed him to free her sister. "Fine," Victoria said and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Mr. Gibbs. Forgive me, I'm a bit upset."

"I'm the one you're upset with!" Jack glared at her. "Apologize to me!"

Victoria didn't even turn around to look at him.  "I'll continue to be upset with you until we've got Will back." He hissed and clenched both her hands into fists. If Jack weren't careful, she'd grab Gibb's dagger and go for Jack's throat. "I don't want to hear a word from you if it isn't about Will, do you understand?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Jack muttered.

Mr. Gibbs held out his arm and Victoria took it. "This way, Miss." Gibbs lead her to the upper deck where she could have a seat at the table that was put out for maps and charting. 

Jack glared at his first mate and the female passenger. He'd never asked her to stay aboard, and if she'd gone with William, he would only need ninety-eight souls. Being stuck with a woman on land was one thing, having her on your ship was worse with nowhere to go or hide where she wouldn't eventually find you.

Victoria was an angrier, more violent version of her younger sister but they looked alike. A few bottles of rum and they could be mistaken for the same person, Pintel had said.

But it wasn't really the truth. Jack could tell the two Swann daughters apart. Though they were the same height, they looked vastly different. The older sister was definitely better equipped in all departments, her hair was dark and naturally curly, and her lips thin. There were a few freckles dusted across her cheeks, and her nose pointed slightly upward. Her eyes were like her sister's but with a rebellious fire burning in them. Victoria might not know how to handle a blade, but she seemed eager enough to fight with her bare hands, and her language was more than seaworthy. 

Jack grinned to himself. "What a woman."


	5. The Bachelorette Party

"What makes you think you're worthy to crew The Black Pearl?" Mr. Gibbs asked.

Victoria sighed as she watched the man before Gibbs. It was an elderly man that looked as if he mad mere hours left of his life. He shook slightly, and there was only a few strand of hair left on his head. 

"Truth be told," the man murmured, Victoria half expected dust to fall out of his mouth, "I never sailed a day in my life. I figure I should get out and see the world while I'm still young."

"You'll do. Make your mark." Gibbs slid a piece of paper across the table for the man to sign. "Next!"

Victoria rolled her eyes and made her way over to the bar. She got herself a bottle of rum and leaned against the dirty bar disk as she watched the line of applicants. The line wasn't that long, and most people in it had some kind of injury, were past their good years or were falling over drunk.

She spotted Jack sitting alongside the wall behind Gibbs with his worn compass in his hands. He seemed to be muttering things to himself, and Victoria sauntered over to have a look at what he was doing. She was still upset with him, but she had always been curious and couldn't help herself. She said nothing as she stood next to him.

"I know what I want," Jack muttered to the compass. 

With a sigh, Victoria looked at Gibbs. Jack cursed and put the compass away. "How are we doing, Gibbs?"

Gibbs nodded with a big smile on his face. Bless the ever-optimistic man that was Joshamee Gibbs. "Including those four," he said and pointed to the newly hired crewmen. "That gives us four." He turned to the next candidate in line. "And what's your story?"

The man before him was covered in filth and wore a tangled wig that sprouted out from under his hat like a bush. He looked like a maniac with his dirty coat and face covered in dust. 

"My story..." He muttered, "it's exactly the same as your story, just one chapter behind." Victoria recognized his voice. And tilted her head to try and get a proper look at the man. "I chased a man across the Seven Seas. The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life."

Victoria recognized him as Captain Norrington from Port Royal. Last she'd heard he'd been promoted to Commodore and was chasing pirates across the ocean after Elizabeth had rejected his proposal.

"Commodore?" Mr. Gibbs asked, just as baffled as Victoria to see him there.

"No, not anymore, weren't you  _listening_?" The man before them hissed, gritting his teeth at Gibbs.

"James!" Victoria walked up to the table and rounded it. "James Norrington?" She gently grabbed him by the arms and tried to catch his eyes. 

The former Commodore wobbled slightly. It was quite obvious that he was drunk and his eyes darted over her. He grabbed hold of her hands to steady himself and get a proper look at her. He looked surprised to see her. "Elizabeth? No, not Elizabeth. Victoria." He recognized her and Victoria couldn't help but toll her eyes at his words. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in England? Or Port Royal? Where's Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth's locked in Fort Charles and to be hanged." Victoria frowned. "Will and I came looking for Jack, but Will's been captured. It's... just me. I'm here with Jack Sparrow."

James seemed to struggle a bit with keeping up but when he heard a familiar name he perked up. "Jack." He grunted, and Victoria turned to where Jack sat - or at least had been sitting a few moments ago. He was no longer there, and when she looked around, she saw him trying to sneak out, hiding behind the leaves of a branch in his hand. 

"Am I worthy to serve under Captain Jack Sparrow?" James asked Mr. Gibbs and then turned around and pointed a gun at Jack. "Or should I just kill you now?"

Jack ducked in behind a large post. "You're hired."

"Sorry. Old habits and all that."

"James, no!" Victoria pushed his arms up, and his shot fired up towards the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted off of the chandelier and went through a bottle a man was drinking out of. The bottles content spilled out onto the floor along with the shard of the glass bottle. 

The man with the broken bottle cried out in anger and swung his arm towards the closest patron. Thus, a brawl started. It was absolute chaos. Not one person in the tavern did not join the fight, and Victoria ducked down to avoid a chair being swung in her direction. 

James put his arm over her head to protect her from a bottle that came flying through the air. It bounced off his coated arm, and he pushed her towards the door. If it was to get her to safety or out of his way Victoria wasn't sure.

"Time to go!" Jack said, and he and Gibbs ran for an exit. Victoria hurried after them with James not far behind. They were blocked off, and James suddenly seemed to want to fight not only Jack but everyone in the entire bar. Victoria knew it would end badly, she just knew.

"Come on!" Norrington shouted. "In an orderly line with you and I'll fight every single one of you!"

The music in the tavern stopped, and people stopped to watch the two men. Victoria frowned, James seemed drunker than before, and he seemed more than eager to fight the crowd around them. She was just about to step forward and stop him when a glass bottle came down on his head and shattered into hundreds of pieces. James Norrington went down with a thud, revealing the person who'd smashed him over the head. It was no one other than Elizabeth Swann. She was dressed in men's clothing with a maroon coat and a sailors hat.

Victoria gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth not to yell. "I just wanted the pleasure of doing that myself!" Elizabeth told the crowd, which cheered and rose their mugs in a toast. 

"Elizabeth!" Victoria ran to hug her sister. "Oh, God's sparkling arse, am I glad to see you!" 

Elizabeth seemed taken aback but hugged her sister tight. "Vickie, what are you doing here?" She asked. 

"I'm trying to rescue you!" Victoria smiled and released her younger sister. 

Behind her was Jack. He had his lips pressed into a tight line, and he did not look very happy. "The Swann sisters, together. Wonderful." He quickly turned to his first mate and pointed at the corner of the room. "I'd rather delay our reunion," he said and scurried away while Elizabeth hadn't yet seen him.

While the sisters had been greeting each other the crowd had picked James off of the ground and carried him out through the back door. Elizabeth hurried after them through the back door. 

Victoria, that still her her bottle of rum in her hand, took a deep sip. Jack approached her and snatched the bottle from her hand once it wasn't by her lips. He took an even deeper gulp of rum and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He all but tossed the bottle back to Victoria, and she caught it without spilling a drop.

"I needed that," Jack burped and Victoria sighed.

"This does not mean I'll let you off the hook," Victoria told him while she inspected the neck of the bottle. "When she finds out about Will, she is going to haunt you," Victoria pointed out. "What was it you said about sisters? Well, did you know that two angry sisters that agree with one another are the worst that could ever happen to a man?"

Jack frowned. "I've figured that one out," he mumbled. "At least we both know who's the nice one out of you two."

"Jack..." Victoria growled.

"Also," Jack murmured, "I do believe you saved me from a bullet earlier, thanks for that." He offered her a humble smile and a slight bow of his head.

Victoria's anger softened slightly. She hadn't expected a thank you, but then again, she hadn't expected Norrington to aim a gun at Jack's face nor that she'd stop him. "Y-You're welcome," she said. "I couldn't have him shoot you, I still need you." She crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke. 

Jack grinned. "Of course." He draped an arm around the young woman, his palm cupping her breast. Victoria looked at his hand and then back up at him with her eyebrow arched. Jack leaned closer. Being seductive and drunk at the same time was difficult. "Is this where I buy you a drink and invite you to my cabin?" He asked.

Victoria loosened up and laughed like she hadn't laughed in a long time. Laughing was good, Jack grinned. A woman who laughed like that had no intention of slapping him silly, which he was grateful for. "You may buy me a drink, but I'm going to need more than drinks to accept that invite."

"Worth a try," Jack shrugged his shoulder and gave her breast a squeeze before he quickly slipped away and headed towards the bar again. 

Leaving Jack to his drinking, Victoria went to find Elizabeth. She sat outside, watching James. Now he was covered head to toe in muck and laid face down in the mud. Victoria helped her sister turn him over, and they both stepped back once he laid on his back. "What a mess..." Victoria shook her head.

"He'll live," Elizabeth smiled softly at her sister, taking a good look at her. Victoria looked like a proper pirate woman, and it oddly suited her. Victoria certainly hadn't made any type of effort to conceal that she was a woman. Her waist was emphasized by a corset over a blouse that had a dangerously revealing neckline. Elizabeth shook the thought away and tried to focus on how relieved she was to see her older sister safe. "I'm so glad to see you, Vickie. I'm sorry things went like this. You surely didn't want this when you came to visit." The two sisters hugged one another again.

"No," Victoria said. "But this is much more exciting. Now that you're here, I'd like to think about it as a prolonged bachelorette party." Victoria laughed. "I mean... there's drinks," she gestured back to the bar, "handsome men," she nodded at the man in the mud, "and you're all done up in an odd outfit."

"I suppose," Elizabeth chuckled and then silenced down. She was silent for a few moments before asking, "Where's Will?"

Victoria frowned. "Lizzie, I'm sorry," she said. "He's aboard the Flying Dutchman."

"The what?" Elizabeth looked confused as well as scared, and Victoria understood. She'd be scared too. If Cutler had been- 

Victoria stopped herself. She was being foolish. It wasn't at all the same, and she needed to stop thinking back and start thinking forward.

"I've no idea who or what Davy Jones is. He's monstrous, cruel and he's got a whole ship full of cursed sailors. And William is on that ship. I don't know what's become of him, but I feel so guilty for not going with him."

Elizabeth nodded. She seemed dazed and deep in thoughts. "I believe you, Vickie. Thank you... for going with him, even if things didn't turn out the way you thought."

"You're welcome," Victoria smiled. Her attention was averted from her own adventure. She realized that her mission had changed course completely, now that Elizabeth was no longer locked up. "How did you get out? What happened to you?"

"It was Father," Elizabeth explained. "He broke me out of prison at night. He'd paid some of the guards to keep quiet," she smiled. "We traveled to the docks together to leave, but we got held up. Father's still in Port Royal, but I think he managed to talk his way out of most trouble. I managed to sneak int Lord Beckett's office while father distracted the guards."

Victoria gulped. "Did you... happen to see  _him_?" She couldn't help but ask. She suddenly felt silly for having asked, but Elizabeth nodded.

"I did," she said. "And I've got this." She showed her sister some documents that she produced from within her coat. "I'm a free woman, and Will is a free man, as soon as we get that compass."

"I see," Victoria looked away.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth nudged her sister in the side. 

Victoria shrugged. "Nothing, I just..." she sighed and turned back to Elizabeth. "Is Cutler an evil man, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth didn't answer at first. "I wouldn't call him evil as much as greedy and ambitious for all the wrong reasons." She silenced down again. "I know that look, Vickie. You love him."

"Don't be absurd," Victoria snorted, but her nonchalance didn't fool her sister. "I suppose... I do love him. There's an edge in him that calls to me. I..." She stopped herself, and her mind went back to what Tia Dalma had told her. Victoria let out a sigh, she hated not knowing something, especially when it involved her. "He's a dangerous man, and I'm playing with fire."

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded. 

James stirred where he laid in the muddy pigpen. "Look at us," Victoria chuckled. "Who would have imagined the Governor's daughters in a pirate port, reminiscing about their past lives and men."

"Except your man is back in Port Royal while mine's sleeping it off in a pigpen," Elizabeth chuckled. 

"Lately, it's practically the same."

The two sisters laughed together. Elizabeth slung an arm around her older sister. "I've missed you, Vickie. Thank you for being here for me."

After a few more moments of watching the former Commodore snoring in the filth, they grabbed him by the arms to drag him indoors, to a nearby inn. 

"I'll stay with him," Elizabeth said. "At least until he wakes. He'll no doubt have questions, and I hope I can answer some."

"I'll answer what I can once he wakes but in the meantime, I will return to the Pearl," Victoria nodded. "We're leaving port tomorrow. Come find us before that."

"I will," Elizabeth promised.

-

The sun had barely risen when the crew got up and started preparing for leaving the port. Victoria spent most of the morning keeping her eyes out for her sister, who hadn't shown up. Jack supervised his crew as they loaded food and fresh water onto the ship. 

Victoria smiled when she saw her sister come walking with Norrington hanging on her shoulder. He staggered when he walked, and his head hung low. He'd gotten rid of his wig, and his coat wasn't as filthy as it'd been the night before. Cleanliness seemed to be a thought most sailors cared little for, except when it came to the ship's deck.

"There you are," Victoria walked to meet her sister and the Commodore. "I thought you were going to miss us."

"Not for anything in the world," Elizabeth smiled. Her eyes wandered to the Captain of the Black Pearl. "Excuse me, while I have a word with the Captain." She handed the Commodore over to Victoria and headed towards Jack and his first mate. James fell forward, and Victoria caught him in an embrace before he went down, his filthy face landing comfortably on her bust.

While Elizabeth spoke to Jack, Victoria helped her hungover company over towards the edge of the dock, where he vomited into the sea. "Oh, James..." Victoria sighed, rubbing circles on his back.

Jack seemed to have been ambushed but not very surprised by Elizabeth's sudden appearance. The look on his face was unclear, he wasn't sure if he wanted anything to do with her or not. Elizabeth stomped up to him and proceeded to ask about William. It became clear that Jack wasn't very keen on telling her that story and reluctantly shared what he knew.

Straightening up the best he could, James turned to them just as Jack mentioned Davy Jones to Elizabeth. James seemed to want to be a part of the conversation despite his hungover, and wobbly made his way over to stand before the Captain. "Oh, please," he snorted. "The Captain of the Flying Dutchman."

"You look bloody awful. What are you doing here?" Jack frowned when James walked up. 

James hiccuped. "You  _hired_  me. I can't help it if your standards are lax."

"You  _smell_  funny." Jack grimaced.

"Jack," Elizabeth sighed. "All I want is to find Will."

That seemed to catch Jack's full attention. "Are you certain? Is that what you really want the most?" he asked.

Both the Swann sisters looked at him as if he was insane. Why else were they there? And why the sudden interest? Even Norrington seemed curious to why Jack had suddenly taken such interest in finding Will. "Of course," Elizabeth said. 

Jack held up his fingers n the air. "Because I would think, you'd want to find a way to  _save_  Will the most," he said. He sounded like his usual, bartering self and Victoria already knew where he was going. He was trying to cut another deal, and this time with her sister.

"And you have a way of doing that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jack..." Victoria warned the Captain. "You've fooled Will, but you're not fooling my sister or me."

"Well," Jack grinned, knowing that he had the younger sister hooked. He ignored the sharp looks from Victoria and shuffled closer to Elizabeth. "There is a chest."

"Oh, dear." James smothered his hands over his face. Victoria felt like doing the same but settled for glaring at Jack. "I'm not sure I want to hear this," James swayed, and for a moment it looked as if he was about to go down. Victoria and Elizabeth both grabbed him by the arms to steady him.

"Easy," Victoria cooed while Elizabeth turned her attention back to Jack.

She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him. Trying to figure out him and his motives. "What chest?" She asked. 

"A chest of unknown size and origin." Jack grinned.

Pintel and Ragette walked by. They were both carrying a crate each and chuckled when they came close. "That contains the still-beating heart of Davy Jones..." Pintel said, and Ragetti made obnoxious, ghostly sounds.

"And whoever possesses that chest possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever it is he or she wants, including saving brave William from his grim fate," Jack explained.

"You don't actually believe him, do you?" James spat.

"I'm afraid he could be right," Victoria muttered. "I've seen this Davy Jones and his ship. The chest might not be just a story. That, however, does  _not_  mean I like the idea of going looking for it."

"How do we find it?" Elizabeth asked. 

Jack pulled up his compass. "With this," he said and showcased the old compass. "My compass is... unique."

James suddenly looked pale again. " _Unique_  here having the meaning of broken." He staggered back towards the side of the dock and heaved the contents of his stomach down into the water.

"True enough. This compass does not point north," Jack admitted.

"Where does it point?" The sisters asked in unison. 

Jack gave an uncomfortable frown but continued to explain, "It points to the thing you want most in the world."

"Are you telling the truth?" Elizabeth asked.

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. "Doubtfully," she muttered.

The Captain was starting to get thoroughly fed up with Victoria, but he couldn't let her distract him now. Her hostile posture and fiery glare may have been very alluring, but there were more important things at stake. Like his life. He turned to Elizabeth with his most charming smile. "Every word, love. And what you want most in this world is to find the chest of Davy Jones, is it not?"

"To save Will?"

Jack nodded. "By finding the chest of Davy Jones," he insisted and placed the compass in her hands. He opened it before quickly retreating a few feet away. 

The two sisters stared at the compass and watched as the needle spun a couple of laps before settling in a clear direction. Jack snuck up on them to have a look. 

"Mr. Gibbs!" He shouted, springing into action.

"Cap'n." It was incredible how Gibbs seemed to be everywhere and at Jack's side at all times. 

"We have out headings," Jack gestured to the compass and Gibbs nodded. The two men boarded the ship and started throwing orders around.

Victoria shook her head, putting all her doubt in the dirty look she sent the Captain. "I can't believe him. He really thinks this is going to be such a walk in the park? Blasted fool."

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm just glad we're doing something. Right now, I have to trust him," she said. She gave the compass to her sister and hurried aboard the ship. 

With a groan, Victoria turned to James and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to steady him. "Come on, charming." She helped him aboard the ship. He snaked his arm out of her grip and leaned against the railing. "You'll feel better in a jiffy, dear. I've heard sea air is good for the soul."

"Yes, of course," James muttered and went to find somewhere to sit and take it easy for the coming couple of hours. Victoria looked at the compass in her hand; it spun lap after lap without finding a course. Victoria closed the compass and went to find Jack. 

She handed him the compass. "Here," she muttered.

"What now?" Jack asked. 

"Nothing, just take your stupid compass." Victoria was grumpy. Why didn't the compass show her what she wanted? She knew that she wanted, or... did she? When she thought about it, she realized she didn't know what she wanted at all. She frowned and glanced over to where her sister gazed out towards the open sea. Victoria sighed. It wasn't her fault. The compass was definitely broken.

Jack stood next to Victoria, following her eyes to her sister. "You care so much for your sister and the love of her life... What about yourself?"

Victoria shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Maybe I'm not supposed to settle down. I don't think I could even if I tried," she said. "I'm not a fair lady, like Elizabeth. We both know that." Victoria smiled at Jack. "I don't even know what I want..." she muttered to herself although Jack could clearly hear it.

For a moment it looked as if Jack had something thoughtful to say. The way his lips curved into a smile and his eyes sparkled made Victoria believe that he was going to offer her kind words. "Few women know what they want, I can attest to that," said Jack and by then Victoria was all out of sighs and eye rolls. 

"Right," she muttered. "I'd better go and help our Commodore. He looks as if he's having a rough time over there," she jutted her thumb towards James, who leaned far over the railing, practically dangling from it.

Jack wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Yes, you do that. I'll just be over here," he pointed in the opposite direction, "away from any kind of splash zone... Good luck."

"Thank you," Victoria gave his arm a gentle pat and headed over to see if James were okay, leaving the Captain of the Black Pearl to his thoughts as the crew prepared to set sail.


	6. Losing Its Charm

Victoria listened silently, along with the Captain and his first mate, when Elizabeth told them her side of the story and how she'd ended up in Tortuga. Although Victoria was relieved to hear that her sister was safe, she couldn't help but worry for her father back in Port Royal. He had to be devastated and worried out of his mind for the two of them. If she could, she would have written to him or gone to Port Royal to see him, but that wasn't an option.

The rest of the crew seemed more upset to hear that William was, in fact, following an order from Lord Beckett. It mattered little that William had willingly gone to fetch Davy Jones' key and ended up serving on the Dutchman.

"Will was working for Beckett, and never said a word," Gibbs grunted. Jack nodded, looking studious. "Beckett wants the compass. Only one reason for that."

"Of course, he wants the chest," Jack said.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, he did say something about a chest." She frowned and looked at Jack. "What's he going to do with the chest of Davy Jones?"

"If the Company controls the chest, they control the sea," Gibbs deducted. "As it is.. Davy Jones is the sea."

Jack snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "A truly discomforting notion, love," he said as he looked to Elizabeth. He studied the documents she brought out while Mr. Gibbs muttered something about going faster.

Victoria wrapped her arms around herself. She did not enjoy hearing what he heard about Cutler Beckett. He didn't sound like the man she'd left. Perhaps this was what he'd become after her departure? Or had he always been like this, and she'd never seen it?

"Might I ask," Jack said as he looked at the signature on the documents, "how you came by these?" The documents were signed by Beckett. Victoria recognized his signature and the familiar curve of the letters.

"Persuasion," Elizabeth explained.

"Friendly?" Jack asked.

"Decidedly not."

Victoria let out a frustrated sigh. "Lizzie."

Jack ignored her and tucked the documents into his coat. "Will strikes a deal for these and upholds it with honor," he looked sly as he spoke. "Yet you're the one standing here with the prize. Full pardon, commission as a privateer on behalf of England and the East India Trading Company. As if it could be bought for such a low price." He turned around and walked away.

"Jack, the documents." Elizabeth stretched out her hand, demanding the papers back.

With another sly smile, Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "No, persuade me."

The younger Swann sister groaned in frustration and walked away, with James following her to the other side of the deck. Victoria looked at Jack. He looked at her.

"What are you looking at?" Victoria asked, and he averted his eyes with an innocent look on his face. "I know what you must be thinking of me. Cutler seems a bad man, and still, I defend him," she sighed. "Maddening, isn't it?"

"I've learned that there's no right answer to such a question, especially not when it's asked by a woman." Jack put his hands on his back and watched the crew scurry around on the deck, tying and untying knots and tending to the many tasks of sailing.

"You've learned a lot of things lately, Jack Sparrow..." Victoria mumbled and turned to the open sea.

They stood silently by each other for a while. Victoria glanced over at the Captain. He stood tall with his hat perched on top of his head. He brushed his fingers over his mustache, giving her a meaning look when he caught her staring.

"Dazzling, am I right?" It felt good to have been admired.

"Not the word I'd use," Victoria shook her head.

"You love it," Jack teased her.

Victoria laughed. "In your dreams!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Jack nodded.

"You're something, Jack Sparrow." Victoria looked out towards the horizon. The sun made the water glimmer and the heat created waves in the air so that the horizon appeared to be waving.

Victoria spent the day watching the sun wander across the sky and lower itself into the sea, turning day into night.

Jack spent his day stealing longing glances at the older one of the two sisters. He wasn't the only one of the crew that had his eyes on Victoria Swann, but he figured that since he was the Captain he had first dibs.

When the sun had set, the Swann sisters sat on the steps to the upper deck, chatting with one another.

Victoria was telling her sister about her time in Europe. "... and then, he straightened up, tipped his hat before he rushed out to fetch the rest of his clothes! In front of the entire soirée!"

Elizabeth laughed heartily. Between them was a bottle of rum they shared, half of its contents gone. "The things you've seen," Elizabeth smiled. "Part of me wished I could see it myself."

"You've had your share of odd experiences. Jack must have gotten you into a whole new kind of trouble. A cursed crew and their legendary ship and Captain."

"Yes, that's true," Elizabeth murmured.

Victoria smiled. "I've only been with him for a few weeks, and I've seen some things I wouldn't even dream of."

"It doesn't sound like you're complaining," her sister pointed out. "It's almost as if you're enjoying it."

"Maybe so." Victoria let her eyes wander the deck. They fell upon James who stood at the front of the ship. He had gotten cleaned up the best he could, and now that he was sober he looked almost like the man she remembered him as... If that man had had a rugged beard and a pirate coat. It oddly suited him, though he was arguably just as handsome in his uniform. "Speaking of enjoying things..." Victoria eyed the man across the deck with a pleased smile. "He's quite handsome without that hideously tangled wig, don't you think?"

Elizabeth elbowed her sister in the side. "Vickie, you vixen," she giggled and glanced over at James. Victoria wasn't wrong.

"I wouldn't mind getting back up on an Englishman, it's been a while." Victoria shifted where she sat, and Elizabeth giggled frantically. 

James noticed their giggling and glanced over his shoulder at them, but made no move and remained where he was. However, he straightened slightly, standing taller than before, no doubt knowing that they spoke about him in their not so hushed whispers.

The sisters lowered their voices, murmuring between one another and giggled at each other's gossip. If it was the rumors or the rum they weren't sure. When the Captain of the ship came walking Victoria got up in two slightly wobbly legs. "I am going to go and have a chat with our dear Commodore," she winked at the Captain and saluted her sister before making her way across the deck towards James. Her hips swaying as she strutted towards him.

Jack watched her, mesmerized by the swing on her hips and her smooth steps over the deck.

Elizabeth sighed, and the smile faded from her lips. Jack seated himself with a heavy thud next to her, deciding to try and forget about Victoria for a few moments. "My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled," he said.

"Yes, Jack. It's just that I thought I'd be married by now." Elizabeth leaned her head in her hands as she watched her sister flirt with Norrington across the deck.

Jack watched the two, with a sour expression. Ignoring her was more difficult than he'd thought. Especially since she was making eyes at a crewman and not him. "You know, Lizzy," he tore his eyes away from James and Victoria, "I  _am_  Captain of a ship. And  _being_  Captain of a ship, I could, in fact, perform a marriage. Right here. Right on this deck. Right now."

Recoiling from his breath, Elizabeth shook her head. "No, thank you."

"And why not?" Jack asked and shrugged when Elizabeth didn't reply. He grabbed the bottle next to Elizabeth and took a swig. "What is it with you Swann girls and that man? He's worn a wig most of his life," he snorted.

Elizabeth turned to him with a wide grin stretched across her face. "Captain Jack Sparrow, are you jealous?" she asked.

"Certainly not!" Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "I just don't like it when people rock my ship more than necessary. Unless I'm involved in the rocking, of course."

"Jealous," Elizabeth teased him. She noticed that the compass hung from his belt. She reached out and took it. "Jack," she said. "Why does your compass not work?"

Jack drank from the bottle. "My compass works just fine, thank you very much."

Elizabeth sighed. "Someday soon, Jack. You're going to have to step up, show me that I can trust you and do the right thing." She opened the compass, its needle laid steady, pointing in the direction they were headed. "You'll have the chance to do something courageous, and when you do... you'll discover something..." she paused, "that you're a good man." She turned to the Captain and watched him scowl at her sister while leaning his chin in his hands.

"All evidence to the contrary," Jack huffed and grabbed the bottle of rum again. The bottle was empty, and Jack looked through the neck of the bottle like you would look through a spyglass. He seemed disappointed that the liquor was gone and put the bottle down.

Elizabeth looked back to her sister. "I have faith in you, Jack. Do you want to know why?"

"Do tell."

"You're going to want it," Elizabeth stood up. "A chance to be admired and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist." Jack rose from the steps as well, wobbling where he stood. "You're going to want to know what it tastes like."

Jack licked his lips and glanced across the deck. "I  _do_  want to know what it tastes like," he admitted as he eyed Victoria in all her curvy glory.

"I'm proud of you, Jack," Elizabeth said just as a crewmember shouted 'Land ho!'.

Suddenly Jack seemed very eager to get onto land and scurried up into the upper deck with his spyglass in hand, leaving Elizabeth alone by the steps.

Jack searched for land, and sure enough, on the horizon, he could see slivers of sand and vegetation. He put the spyglass down, and his eyes fell on Victoria and Norrington. They laughed together, James with a charming smile and Victoria with the most wanting eyes Jack had ever seen. It was gross and fascinating at the same time. Victoria's long hair was let loose, and too many buttons on her blouse were unbuttoned, showcasing the soft skin under the white fabric. 

Victoria Swann was a piece of work and whether she knew it or not she had all the traits of a pirate. Jack had met few women who thought like him and gotten along with fewer. He and Victoria didn't precisely get along, but at least they weren't actively trying to kill one another. And she hadn't chopped his hand off after he'd copped a feel. That had to mean something.

Victoria chuckled lightly at something James had said. She was practically standing flush against him, and her hand was on his chest. She'd always had a way with men, and after she'd left for Europe, she'd jumped from one to another. She changed men like she changed clothes and she wouldn't have it any other way. It had been one of the reasons she'd dreaded the thoughts of going back to Port Royal.

Victoria needed at least one old habit to keep her grounded. This ominous and potentially dangerous quest of theirs made her nervous, and she needed familiarity. Her sister was certainly helping her calm down, the familiar face of former Commodore Norrington was very nice, and the flirting made her feel almost as if everything was all right.

"Say, you wouldn't want to find somewhere more private?" Victoria stroked her fingers up and down James' arm, seductively beckoning him along. "Not that I mind it right here." Her hand found its way to his chest again, gently pressing her palm against it. Her other hand grabbed hold of his hand and placed it on her hip.

She wanted him to touch her, and from the looks of the Commodore, he wanted to touch her too.

Her touch visibly riled the man before her up. It was dark, but she could tell that there was a spark in his eyes. His breath hitched, and he seemed tense in general. The good kind of tense. The tense Victoria knew exactly how to handle. "I certainly wouldn't object to some... time alone with you." James smiled. His hand on her hip slowly inched lower. He wanted her badly. "I-"

"Oy!" Jack called, coming towards them. "Didn't the two of you hear? Land! Ohoy! Over there!" He waved his hands towards the horizon and the faint view of some solid ground.

Victoria scowled at the horizon and then stiffly turned back to the Captain. "We've hours to go," she growled. She did not look pleased to be interrupted.

James took a step back and let her hand go. He straightened his posture and cleared his throat. "I'll wake the crew." He assured the Captain, although slightly bothered still, and gave Victoria another smile before he disappeared below deck.

Victoria stared at him in disbelief as he climbed down the stairs. She turned to the Captain with her teeth gritted. "Thanks, Jack. Thanks a lot. You sure know exactly when to show up."

"Punctuality happens to be my middle name." Jack looked very pleased with his sly smile and an arched eyebrow. "You look wound up... like you need some massage."

Victoria pouted her lips. Playing along with her most flirtatious smile and wanting eyes. "Oh, Jack. I need so much more than a massage," her voice was low and alluring, "I'm so hot and bothered. I could really use a helping hand... or two." 

"I know a guy," Jack murmured, stepping closer. They couldn't get much closer than they were.

Victoria glanced down at the lack of space between them and then smirked up at Jack. "Oh, please, Jack. You scared my company away hoping to take his place?" Victoria clicked with her tongue and leaned against the railing, creating a few inches of space between them. Jack eyed her hungrily. "Sadly for you, I have a thing for English men with fancy titles."

Jack leaned against her again putting one hand on the railing behind her while the other caressed her chin and exposed neck. "I'm a Captain," he murmured into her ear. "And I'm English... mostly."

Victoria thought herself crazy for considering the offer and looked the pirate over, evaluating him thoroughly. He looked decently fit, his beard was well kept, and his eyes were deep and intense. He was a different kind of handsome than Victoria was used to. Jack was rough edges and a carefree attitude opposed to the clean shapes and strictness Victoia had always preferred.

She leaned closer, so close their lips were just barely gracing each other. "Jack," Victoria breathed. "Just what kind of woman do you take me for?"

Jack didn't have an answer and the heat raging in the pit of his stomach was too distracting for him to think clearly. Victoria was a woman who played by her own rules, which were no rules. He pressed himself just a little closer so that their lips were definitely touching, but the young woman before him drew back with a teasing smile.

"Land, right?" She slowly backed away from him. "Wouldn't want to miss it." 

And with that she was gone, leaving Jack cursing under his breath. He'd practically tasted it. Her. Their lips had touched, and he'd felt the warmth of her body radiate from her to him. He had been so close. Jack watched her walk away. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was playing a game, and whatever game it was, she was damned good at it. 

-

Elizabeth had her arms crossed over her chest as Pintel and Ragetti fought about who was pulling what oar wrong, and how to pronounce the name of the monster hunting them, the Kraken. Victoria sat next to her, and Jack on her other side. They hadn't spoken all morning, and Jack had been more obnoxious than usual. James sat on the other side of the boat and kept his eyes locked on the island they approached. 

Growing frustrated, Elizabeth followed Jack once he climbed out of the boat and onto the sandy beach. She held the compass in her hand and followed the direction it showed. The needle suddenly spun frantically and settled in a different direction. She continued to follow the compass but ended up running in circles. 

James and Victoria watched her run back an forth with her eyes on the compass, while Jack trailed after her like an eager dog. "About earlier..." James leaned down to whisper in Victoria's ear. 

She grinned, playfully leaning against him. "The moment's gone, charming. You've Jack to thank for that."

"I see," James mumbled.

"That doesn't mean," Victoria whispered, "that it won't come again."

James grinned down at her. Victoria would tell one of the biggest lies of her life if she said she didn't look forward to it too. "See you below deck when we get back?" James asked.

"Count on it," Victoria nodded.

"This doesn't work!" Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed and the two talking about their future rendevouz looked her way. "It certainly doesn't show you what you want most." Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh and gave her sister a hopeless look. Elizabeth sat down in the sand and put the compass down. Victoria walked up to her and patted her sister's shoulder.

"We'll find it, Lizzie," she said.

"How are we supposed to do that when the stupid compass doesn't work?"

"It  _does_  work," Jack insisted and pointed at the compass, its needle wavered but ultimately pointed at Elizabeth. "You're sitting on it!"

"What?" The sisters asked in unison. 

Jack swatted the two girls away. "Move." He waved his hand at James who rolled his eyes before he started digging where Jack pointed. Victoria decided to lend a hand. After a little while of digging James' shovel hit something an audible thud made everyone look up. 

Victoria bent down and started shoveling dirt with her hands, beneath another layer of sand laid a chest. She dug it up, and James lifted it up on solid ground. The four watched the chest for a moment, and Jack slowly leaned closer, to put his ear against the lid of the chest. 

With the shovel, James broke the lock and opened the chest. Inside was heaps of letters and in the middle another, smaller chest with intricate details and a small lock.

Jack drew back with a concerned, although pleased, look on his face. They lifted the small chest out onto the sand and Victoria further inspected the letters. They were all love letters, but the signature and much of the text had faded over time. They were just barely legible. She looked over her shoulder, where her sister had her ear against the small chest. Victoria crawled over to listen too. There was a definite heartbeat coming from within the chest. 

"It's real!" Elizabeth looked up at Jack with a gasp.

"You were actually telling the truth." James sounded shocked.

Jack pouted as he watched his dumbfounded companions. "I do that quite a lot. You people are always surprised."

"With good reason!" A voice came from behind them, and they all spun around.

Behind them, a few yards away, stood William Turner. He looked worn but unhurt. Elizabeth jumped in joy and ran towards him. "Will! You're all right!" Will enveloped his fiancée in a tight embrace and kissed her. "I came to find you," Elizabeth said.

"How did you get here?" Jack asked. His expression was unreadable, and Victoria couldn't tell if he was happy or horrified to see Will. Victoria felt relief wash over her. William was all right, and Elizabeth was finally with him. 

Will looked at Jack while he held Elizabeth in his arms. "Sea turtles, mate," he said. "A pair of them, strapped to my feet."

Jack's face split into a smile. "Not so easy, is it?"

"I do owe you my thanks, Jack," Will said. Jack's smile turned into a confused frown. "After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones..."

"You what?" Elizabeth asked, glaring at Jack.

"What?" Jack yelped. Victoria hadn't forgotten but hearing it from Will himself made her angry all over again. Jack had left Will to serve on the Dutchman without much thought. 

William shook his head and continued, "I was reunited with my father," he explained. Victoria and Elizabeth looked at one another. Elizabeth had mentioned in her letters that Bill Turner, Will's father, had been dead for a long time.

Jack smiled nervously. "Well," he muttered and looked over his shoulder. "You're welcome, then."

"You lied to me," Elizabeth yelled. "Both of you!" She gave her sister an accusing glare. 

"Lizzie..." Victoria frowned.

"Pretty much," Jack nodded. "Time and tide, love."

"Jack!" Victoria pushed the Captain aside. "I didn't lie, Elizabeth. What was I supposed to tell you? That we left Will to die? We didn't have a choice but to try come back for him."

"You were going to come back for me?" Will asked.

Victoria looked at him. "Of course. Well... I would, not so sure about the backstabber..." She grunted and gave Jack another shove. "Coward."

" _Captain_ , still." Jack looked grumpy and uneasy after accusations had been thrown around.

William stepped forward and kneeled next to the chest. In his hand he held the key from the drawing Jack had shown him. Victoria settled down to watch. "You've got the key," she looked astounded.

"Oy!" Jack stepped around Victoria and stood above Will. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill Jones," Will replied while turning the chest around to unlock it.

Jack drew his sword and pointed it at Will. "Can't let you do that. If Jones is dead, who's going to call of that terrible beastie off the hunt, huh?" Jack held out his free hand. "The key, please."

Slowly, Will stood back up with his hands in the air. Then suddenly, he reached down and drew the sword in Elizabeth's belt and pointed it at Jack. "I keep the promises I make, Jack," he said. "I intend to free my father."

Now James drew his sword and pointed it at William. "I can't let you do that, either. Sorry."

"James!" Victoria tried to stop him, but he shrugged her off.

Jack beamed at James. "I knew you'd warm up to me eventually," he said but frowned when James turned the tip of his sword towards him. 

"Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest. I deliver it, and get my life back," he explained.

"Ah, the dark side of ambition," Jack sighed.

Victoria gave James a stern look. "You don't need that life, James. You're better than that. You deserve better," she told him with a firm grip on his coat.

He looked down at her with two sad eyes, for a moment he seemed to consider her words but then he shrugged her off again. "I'm getting that chest." he focused on his two opponents.

Both the Swann sisters exchanged looks. "Men," they grunted. "Stop it!" Elizabeth protested when the three men suddenly threw themselves at each other to fight. "Jack!" 

The trio of duellers and Elizabeth moved down the beach. "Guard the chest!" William told Elizabeth to which she ignored him and passed the task to her older sister, who remained by the chest while watching the fight and her sister's attempt to shut it down.

Pintel and Ragetti soon appeared by her side and stood with her to watch the scene before them. "How did this go all screwy?" Pintel asked.

"They're men!" Victoria complained. "Hopeless, greedy, blinded by honor!"

She kicked up the sand with a growl and crossed her arms over her chest. Ragetti glanced at the chest. "Is that it? That's what they've been looking for? It's smaller than I thought."

Pintel shook his head. "I suppose so. Though a heart doesn't really take up much space anyway... That chest must be worth a shiny penny."

Victoria slowly turned to them. "Don't even think about it," she warned them. The two crewmen exchanged looks and grins before they rushed towards the chest and grabbed one side of it each and picked it up. They dashed down the beach towards the hills. "Hey!" Victoria shouted and ran after them. She passed both her sister and the three fighters as she followed the thieves. "The chest, you daft fools!" She pointed at the two men escaping with the chest.

Elizabeth took up the chase with her sister and one after one; the three fighting men joined the chase while still dueling one another. 

The two sisters followed the chest while Jack, Will, and James stopped to fight for the key. Elizabeth was the faster of the two sisters and got ahead of the two thieves to confront them. They looked at her before dropping the chest between them and pulling out their swords. Elizabeth reached to grab her own, but it was gone. Will still had it.

Victoria jumped in front of her sister. "Hand over the chest," she demanded, awfully confident to be without a weapon.

"Or what?"

In the corner of her eye, Victoria caught a glimpse of something flying towards her. She ducked and an ax embedded itself in the trunk of the palm behind her. "Oh bollocks," she pointed to where the ax had come from. 

The entirety of the Flying Dutchman's crew came charging towards them. 

Pintel yelped as a sword was swung in his direction, and he blocked it with his own blade. In the commotion to avoid slashes from swords, Victoria and Elizabeth lost sight of the chest. "Sword!" Elizabeth shouted, and Pintel tossed her his sword. Elizabeth swung it and cut into one of the attackers.

Ragetti handed her his sword before he took off running together with his crewmate. The two women were left behind. "Here." Elizabeth handed her sister the second sword.

Victoria shrieked when she held the sword up like she'd seen her sister do. How she managed to block the incoming strike might have been luck or a miracle. "I've never held a blade before, and you expect me to fight cursed sailors?!" Victoria growled at her sister.

"Shut up and let's get back to the boat!" Elizabeth fought off another crewman and pushed her sister in the direction of the beach. 

When they were back at the longboat, they found Will unconscious with Jack loading him onto the boat. James kept watch. "There you two are," James looked relieved when he saw the two sisters. "Hurry, into the boat." At least the three men weren't fighting anymore, although one of them was unconscious.

 "What happened?" Elizabeth asked and went straight to William's side. 

"Small bump on the head, leave him be unless you plan on using him to hit something with," Jack lifted William's legs into the boat, and he fell to the bottom of the boat with a thud. 

Looking back and seeing the Dutchman's crew didn't make Victoria feel better. "We're not getting out of this." She shook her head. "We're not going to make it."

James pushed past Elizabeth and reached into the boat. "Not with the chest," he said and grabbed the chest by its hinges. "Into the boat," he ordered Elizabeth. There was an authority in his voice, and it was obvious that he was not joking around any longer.

"You're mad." Elizabeth climbed into the boat. 

James gave her a brief smile. "Don't wait for me," he said and turned to Victoria. "I'm sorry." He gave her a pained smile and kissed her on the lips before rushing back towards the hill to lead the hostile crew away. They followed him the moment they saw the chest.

Victoria blinked several times as she watched him run away. "I say we respect his final wish," Jack said and pushed Victoria towards the boat. She climbed inside, and they hurried back towards the Pearl without Commodore Norrington.


	7. Abandon the Ship

Will regained consciousness when they returned to the Pearl. He rubbed his aching head and looked at the two women beside him. He realized that they were on the longboat and sat up. With a frown, he searched the boat with his eyes. "Where's the chest?" he asked.

"Norrington took it to draw them off," Elizabeth explained. She spoke silently and gave her sister a concerned look.

They'd left James behind on that island with a horde of cursed creatures. What it guilt and loss that hurt within Victoria's chest? The thought of abandoning James to his fate without so much as looking back? She felt bad since they'd not even an hour before had been in such good spirits. And the way he'd apologized... Victoria felt as if her guts twisted and her stomach caved in on itself.

"We shouldn't have left him behind," Victoria mumbled, but no one seemed to listen as they neared the Black Pearl.

They boarded the Peal and Victoria felt her legs give away underneath her the moment she was on deck. She sat down with a thud on the stairs, staring far before her. She was all of a sudden struck by incredible grief.

Jack knelt before her. "I'm sorry," he said. He'd taken his hat off and held it against his chest. He seemed genuinely concerned, and his words sounded heartfelt. 

Victoria gave him little time to react when she threw herself forward and slung her arms around him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and wept into his hair. Jack hesitated before wrapping his arms around her to comfort her. This was certainly not the way he'd imagined he'd hold her for the first time. This wasn't the headstrong, almighty Victoria Swann.

 Jack gently rubbed his hands over her back. "It's going to be all right," he murmured.

"Where's the Commodore?" Gibbs dared ask, though with a woman crying onboard he thought himself already knowing the answer.

Jack gave Victoria a gentle squeeze before Elizabeth took over and went to comfort her older sister. "He fell behind," Jack told his first mate.

Mr. Gibbs bowed his head. "My prayers are with him but we best not wallow in our grief." He seemed to perk up and head up towards the rudder with the Captain. "On the bright side, you're back, and you've made it off free and clear."

The first mate had not even finished his sentence when, from nowhere, the Flying Dutchman emerged from the depths. With a defeated sigh, Gibbs retracted his statement. Victoria jumped back up on her feet, glaring at the opposing ship with all her might.

She wasn't scared anymore. Now, she was angry.

There, on the upper deck of the Flying Dutchman, she could make out its Captain. Davy Jones stood with his hands behind his back and watched them with a menacing glare. His crew stood gathered on the deck, looking intimidating as the ship settled on the water.

"I'll handle this, mates," Jack assured everyone with confidence. He stood tall and with a wide smile on his face as if they weren't facing a monstrous ship and its crew. "Hey!" He shouted across the water to the other ship. "Fishface! Lose something?" His grin widened when he held his jar filled with dirt up above his head. He walked down to the main deck. "Come to negotiate, have you, you slimy git? Look what I've got!" 

He taunted the Captain of the Dutchman with childish songs and by waving his precious jar around. The Pearl's crew looked as confused as the Captain of the Dutchman looked frustrated.

"Enough!" Shouted Davy Jones and the cannon covers o the Dutchman slid aside to reveal an impressive and very frightening array of cannons. 

Jack's grin faded, and he lowered the jar. "Hard to starboard," he squeaked, and Mr. Gibbs put the crew in action without wasting time. The Pearl turned violently to prepare for a swift escape. Cannonfire roared as the Dutchman fired towards the Pearl, blowing a large hole in her hull.

"Lizzie," Victoria grabbed her sister by the arm. 

"Prepare for the worst," Elizabeth sounded serious and handed her sister a sword. "However this goes, you'll need this."

"Thank you," Victoria nodded, tying the sword to her belt for later use.

Elizabeth nodded and ran up to the upper deck. The Dutchman was behind them, and the space between them slowly increased. "She's falling behind!"

"We've got her now," Mr. Gibbs nodded. "We're the faster ship with the wind on our side. The Dutchman relies on upwind to catch her prey."

"So we've robbed her of her advantage." William appeared next to Elizabeth. He stuck close to the Swan sisters. He'd not forgetting his promise to their father, and now he seemed keen to keep the promise. 

The chasing ship came to a slow stopped and the crew on the Pearl cheered. "They've given up!" It seemed a little odd that such a legendary ship would simply give up and let them escape with such ease. Victoria climbed the upper deck to get a better look of the ship they left behind.

"My father's on that ship," William turned to Jack. "If we can outrun her, we can defeat her. I say we turn back and fight."

"So do I," Victoria growled.

"Why fight when you can negotiate?" Jack seemed reluctant to turn around. "All one needs is the proper leverage."

Suddenly, the whole ship shook, and everyone aboard fought to keep their balance when the ship came to an abrupt stop. Victoria tumbled down the stairs along with Jack. Dropping the glass jar, it shattered into pieces, and the dirt inside spilled out onto the deck. The moment Jack composed himself he crawled over and searched through the dust with a desperation Victoria had never seen the likes of. 

"Where is it?" Jack brushed the sand aside but didn't seem to find what he was looking for. 

"We've must have hit a reef," a crewman said, peering over the railing. The water beneath them fizzled wildly, but there was no bottom of any reef in sight.

Elizabeth went to check, but Will stopped her, pulling her into the middle of the deck. "No. It's not a reef. Get away from the rail!"

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, helping her sister stand.

"The Kraken," Will said with a grim look on his face. "To arms!"

The crew scrambled to arm themselves and Victoria struggled to regain her balance. William took control and threw orders to the crew to prepare for the beast. A ferocious growl was heard, and the tentacles of the creature rose from the water, crawling up the hull. Victoria drew her sword, gripping it tightly. She was ready to use it the moment she got the chance.

Will had the crew arm themselves with rifles and man the cannons to aim at the creature's limbs. 

"Will?" Elizabeth asked as the tentacles ascended from the ocean. She stood back to back with her sister, both ready to defend themselves and each other should it be necessary.

They all watched the tentacles rise higher into the air, not attacking but surrounding both ship and crew. "Will?" Elizabeth called again, more distressed. Victoria grasped her sword tighter in her hand, so hard her knuckles turned pale.

The tentacles slithered down and felt their way around on the ship. William jutted his arm towards them, signaling for the attack. "Fire!" he shouted, and the crew fired the cannons and rifles at the beast.

They hit several tentacles and almost severed some. The Kraken howled and sank back into the sea. "It will be back! We have to get off of the ship," Will said.

"There are no boats!" Victoria pointed at the ruined boats. They'd been crushed in the commotion. "Trapped like bloody rats," Victoria cursed.

William looked around the ship and his eyes locked onto the barrels of gunpowder. He pointed at them. "Pull the grates, and get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold." He handed Elizabeth a long gun. "Whatever you do, don't miss," he begged her.

"As soon as you're clear." She nodded.

Victoria helped the crew load the barrels onto the net and fetch more from below deck. "Vickie," Elizabeth called her over. "I have to tell you... if this encounter goes badly..."

"Oh, please don't say that." Victoria frowned.

"No," Elizabeth grabbed her sister by the shoulders. "If this is the end, I want you to know that I'm grateful that you came out here for my sake," she said. "I'm honored to be your sister."

Victoria pulled Elizabeth into a hug. "And I to be yours. I love you."

"I love you too, Vickie." 

Victoria smiled at her and let her go. Her eyes fell on something in the water. It was a longboat and in it was Jack, alone. "Hey!" She grabbed her sister by the shoulders and turned her around, forcing her to look at the fleeing Captain.

"Oi!" The two sisters ran to the railing. "You coward!"

Another loud crash and several tentacles appeared again. This time they slammed violently into the hull and over the deck. Victoria wasted little time in slashing away at the thick limbs. She repeatedly stabbed at whatever she could reach. She wasn't going to go down because of an overgrown squid.

William clung to the side of the net that had been heaved up into the air and hung suspended several feet above the deck. The barrels of gunpowder within the net. William waved and shouted at the beast to draw its attention.

"Come on! I'm over here!" He shouted, taunting the creature. It slithered across the deck to attack him and the net filled with barrels, taking the bait just as planned.

Elizabeth aimed her rifle at the barrels, and Victoria rushed to help a crewman fight off tentacles, threatening to drag him and one of the ship's cannons into the ocean. She sliced at the limb with her sword and it writhed in pain. 

"Ugh!" Victoria moaned and kicked the retreating tentacle.

"Watch out!" The crewman she'd assisted shouted a warning before he ducked under a sweep of a tentacle.

Victoria wasn't quick enough.

The arm of the beast swung through the air and slammed into Victoria's chest, she flew backward and hit her back against the main mast. Her breath was knocked out of her, and when she landed she laid limp for a moment on the deck among splinters and broken wood. For a moment the pain was unbearable, and she groaned as she rolled over to lie on her stomach. her ears rang and the edges of her vision faded in and out of black. Victoria rubbed her aching head and looked up when a gunshot echoed through the air. She covered her head on instinct.

The barrels of gunpowder exploded and erupted into flames that burned both the mast of the ship and the monster's grasping tentacles. Victoria laid right underneath it, and she felt the heat against her skin when the flames licked the air around her.

The Kraken retreated. 

Victoria reached for her sword, it laid a few feet away and just out of reach. She groaned in pain and finally got a hold of her sword. She felt immensely better already. She looked up again and saw Jack Sparrow standing with a rifle in his hands. 

"Did we kill it?" Elizabeth asked. 

"No," Gibbs shook his head. "We just made it angry. What are your orders, Captain?"

Jack walked over to Victoria. He kneeled beside her and sighed in relief when he realized she was mostly unhurt. "Abandon ship," he said. "Into the longboat." 

A solemn look fell over Gibbs. "Jack, the Pearl..."

With much regret but even more feigned nonchalance, Jack dragged Victoria to her feet. "She's only a ship, mate." He turned to the woman beside him and brushed her hair out of her face. "You have to head towards land. Get to safety."

Victoria wobbled, the impact had made her unsteady, and her vision was still blurred. The ringing in her ears after the explosion lingered, and she had troubles orienting herself. She grasped Jack's coat in her hands and leaned against him to keep herself steady. Her sister came to her aid. 

"We've got to go," Elizabeth pushed Victoria towards the boat.

"Was that Jack?" Victoria asked and looked over her shoulder.

Jack walked beside her. "Indeed it was," he said. 

Victoria beamed up at him. "I thought you left."

"Well," Jack smiled at her. "I came back for you all." The genuine happiness in her smile made him feel soft inside, but the 'soft' wasn't appropriate for their situation. He leaned closer and kissed her gently on the lips. Being a good man tasted like rum and sweet apples. "Get into the boat," He whispered before he brought himself back to being serious and helped lift the disoriented woman into the longboat.

He looked at her with a frown as she struggled to come round. She must have hit her head but she wasn't bleeding so in time she'd be all right. Concern washed over him like waves when he thought of what might happen to her if they stayed much longer. For once, Jack worried about someone else other than himself. That thought alone disturbed him greatly. What was he turning into?

Barely conscious, Victoria laid in the boat and looked up at the sky. The crew was loading supplies into the boat before lowering it down into the water. Gibbs and a few other crew members were on the boat with her. William was on his way.

"Is she alright?" Will asked. "Is she wounded?"

Gibbs looked her over but found nothing but bruises. "Out-of-joint, but not wounded from what I can tell right now."

"Will?" Victoria extended her hand towards him. He climbed into the boat and took her hand in his. "Where's my sister?"

William turned back to look just as Elizabeth climbed down into the longboat. She was alone. The crew in the boat looked at her, confused to her indifference and her grave silence. Jack was was nowhere to be seen, and it didn't appear as if he was coming either.

"Where's Jack?" Will was the one to ask.

Elizabeth looked at the crew in the longboat. She cleared her throat and sat down. "He elected to stay behind to give us a chance."

"What?" Victoria sat up but was blinded by the effort. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Elizabeth insisted and turned to Mr. Gibbs. "Now go!" She demanded and then averted her eyes from anyone who tried to catch them. She looked upset, Victoria could tell. What had Jack told her before they left? Had Elizabeth tried to convince him to come along or had she accepted his wish? Victoria's thoughts spun in her head.

They cast off and headed towards a nearby island and solid ground. Minutes later, Pintel pointed a shaking finger to the ship they'd just left. Enormous tentacles had surrounded her, and the beast itself had emerged, pulling the ship into its gaping mouth. 

"Jack!" Victoria shouted, leaning so far out of the boat she almost fell into the water. Will grabbed her by the shoulder and held her back. 

They all watched as the Kraken descended back down into the abyss and brought the Black Pearl and her Captain with it. The water settled and silence fell over them all. Jack and his Pearl were gone.

Gibbs looked incredibly hurt but seemed the most composed out of all the crew. "He went down with his ship." He put his hand over his heart and bowed his head in respect of the lost Captain.

Victoria frowned at the sight of the waves settling. "Captain Jack Sparrow."

-

It was strange. The only loss Victoria had suffered in her life before was the death of her mother, and she barely remembered what it had been like. Now, she'd lost two people close to her on the same day. Not even hours apart.

She sat motionless as William and Gibbs spoke to a man on the docks. They'd somehow made it to Tortuga. Days of rowing and they'd miraculously picked up by a passing ship that was headed towards the port.

Victoria sat on the docks with her hands folded in her lap. She looked out over the sea with empty eyes. It felt as if the water never ended. How far away was home? 

Her sister came and sat next to her. "Vickie?"

"Yes," Victoria didn't look at her sister and her eyes rested on the horizon. 

"How are you doing?"

"I..." Victoria blinked her eyes. "I'd like to return to Port Royal," she mumbled and looked down at her hands. "I know you can't return, but I believe I still can. One of us should return to Father."

Elizabeth nodded. "You're right."

Victoria sighed and looked at her younger sister. "So much loss... I can't stand losing you too but... Is this where we part ways, Lizzie?"

"Not forever," Elizabeth assured her. "We'll see each other again."

"I suppose so." Victoria looked back at the ocean. "There's bound to be a ship that sails to Port Royal here; I'll find it and return home. Father will be most pleased to have one of us return and someone has to break the news to Cutler." She forced a smile. "I'll talk myself out of most troubles... but he'll no doubt be pleased. We didn't part on very good terms." Victoria sighed and looked down at her hands. They were filthy and littered with small cuts. "I just... want to go home."

"Port Royal will be home then?"

Victoria shrugged hopelessly. "What is a home, Lizzie? I feel as if I don't have one. There's nothing or no one special waiting for me in Port Royal. All I've got is you and Father."

"I'm sorry, Vickie..."

"So am I," Victoria said. "As for you, dear." She took her sister's hand. "I wish you and William all the luck in the world. I believe you may need some."

Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you." Elizabeth watched Victoria stand up and begin to walk away. 

Victoria stopped and turned to her sister. "Elizabeth, would you know why Jack came back for us? Why he stayed behind?"

Without hesitation, Elizabeth looked her sister in the eyes. "Jack Sparrow was a good man, and he'll be remembered as one," she promised her sister.

Tears began forming in the corners of Victoria's eyes. "Yes, I suppose he was, wasn't he?" She smiled and wiped the tears away before they started falling. "Goodbye, Elizabeth."

"Goodbye, Victoria."

Victoria wandered into the port and away from the docks. She needed to find someone who could take her back to Port Royal. It shouldn't be too hard, and even if no one was going there, she'd have no problem convincing someone to make a detour. However, she wasn't in the mood to do anything but sit around.

The lively pirate port felt messy, and she didn't enjoy its cheerful inhabitants and bustling atmosphere. It didn't feel right after what she'd been through. Jack Sparrow and James Norrington should have been there too. Losing them was difficult and losing them both on the same day had struck her with such grief that the pain made her numb and empty. She needed some peace in her life, and Port Royal should be just as dull as she needed at the time.

She passed a sailor with a greasy beard and balding head that were loading crates onto a small ship. Victoria recognized some of the seals on two of the barrels he rolled onboard. They looked like those on the docks in Port Royal.

"Excuse me," she said and was surprised at how weak she sounded. She sounded as if she was horribly sick or beyond heartbroken. The confidence and authority in her voice were gone. Had it run out along with her hope? "Excuse me," she gained the attention of the sailor, "Are you by any chance heading towards Port Royal?"

The sailor turned to her and wiped his hands on his trousers. "Why, yes we are. How so, Miss?"

"Would it be possible to take me there? It's important that I get there."

"We've got room if you don't mind it being a little cramped." The sailor nodded.

Victoria gave a weak smile. "It does not bother me, sir. As long as I get there, I won't complain," she promised. 

The sailor smiled. "My crew will be gentlemen, I swear it. The ship's not exactly a Navy vessel, but she'll get us where we need to be and safely," he assured her.

"It will do just fine, thank you, sir."  Victoria curtsied, and the sailor blushed.

"Well then, welcome aboard the Strum. We leave once we've finished loading our supplies." He gestured at the ship and the boarding plank. "See yourself aboard, Miss." He resumed carrying crates and sacks of wares and supplies onto the ship.

Victoria boarded the ship and looked back towards the port. It was busy, and in the crowd, she spotted what was left of the Pearl's crew. She didn't know what would become of them now, but she hoped, for their sake and her own, that good fortune was headed their way.

The crew of the Strum finished loading their supplies and prepared to set sail. 

Miss Swann stood on the bridge of the ship and watched the port as they left. She stood there until she couldn't make out the buildings, and Tortuga was nothing more than a sliver on the horizon. 

Victoria headed home.


	8. Broken Home

"Oh, gracious God!" Weatherby rushed to embrace his oldest daughter when he spotted her coming up the road to the Swann estate. "My sweetest, dearest Victoria." He was in tears and pulled his daughter into a tight hug. Her arms hung limply by her sides and her expression was blank as if she was in shock. In a way she was. It was odd to be back in Port Royal, to step back into a relatively normal life.

"Father..." Her voice was hollow but she brought herself to return the hug, pressing her cheek against her father's chest. 

Weatherby whimpered with joy and took half a step back to inspect his daughter and make sure she wasn't injured. "Oh, Victoria. I don't think I've been this relieved in my entire life. You must tell me everything that has happened. Where's Elizabeth? And young William?"

Victoria nodded slowly. Her father did make her feel better. "They're both safe, father. They are together as we speak. Away from Port Royal."

"Away?" Weatherby frowned.

"Yes," Victoria nodded and looked up at her father. "Jack Sparrow is dead," Victoria said. "He sacrificed himself so that the rest of us could live."

The words came as a little bit of a surprise to the Governor. "I see..." he mumbled.

"And..." Victoria suddenly choked up and tears began forming in her eyes. "James Norrington..."

Weatherby pulled his daughter into another hug. "Oh, my sweet girl."

"We left him for dead, father," Victoria cried. "We should have stayed with him. We should have helped him."

"There, there, my love." Weatherby ran his hand over his daughter's hair. "Come inside. Let's get you a change of clothes and something warm to eat. You'll feel better and you can tell me everything that has happened."

Victoria nodded and wiped her tears away. She took her father's hand and followed him into the estate.

A bath was poured for her and clothes laid out on her bed. Her room felt too large and the bed too soft, but the bath was warm and comforting. Victoria sat curled up in the tub and smelled the lavender oils and flowery soaps. The smells brought her comfort and some peace but the silence and solitude left her with her thoughts.

So many things had gone wrong on her journey. She'd seen several people die and lost two men in her life. Now, it felt as if it had all been a big failure.

She stepped out of the bath and dried herself with a large towel. The soft fabric was soothing and when she was dry enough to get dressed she put on one of the dresses she'd bought in England. It felt incredibly peculiar to wear a dress after such a long time in lighter clothes but Victoria was glad because it felt like putting a piece of her old life back in place. 

Her father waited for her in his study, he stood up when she entered the room and he hugged her again. "Are you feeling better, dear? Please have a seat," he lead her over to a chair. "A cup of tea and something to eat will be here soon. You look famished."

"Thank you, father. I... feel better," Victoria nodded. "E-... Elizabeth sends her love. The last I saw of her, she and William were in Tortuga. Three days ago."

"Thank the Heavens," Weatherby sighed. "They're both alive and well, then?"

"Yes," Victoria nodded. 

She proceeded to tell her father what had happened on her journey. How things had started fine but Will had been captured by Davy Jones and Jack's debt. Her father did not look particularly happy to hear that and crossed his arms over his chest when Victoria told him how they'd returned to Tortuga and found both Elizabeth and Norrington there. 

It helped to talk about what she'd been through and her father was a very good listener. He said little when she told her story and only stopped once or twice to find the words to use. When food and drinks arrived Victoria had finished her story and sipped carefully on her tea. The warm beverage consoled her.

Weatherby thought about what his daughter had said for some time while she ate and drank. She wasn't the daughter she'd been when she left. The headstrong and confident Victoria was gone and replaced by a collected and silent one. Her spirit seemed to have been lost.

"Victoria, dear. I am for one very glad to have you back. I hope you'll be staying here for a while," Weatherby smiled at his daughter.

Victoria looked at him and nodded. "Yes, I plan to stay," she said, much to her father's relief. "I'm going to see Lord Beckett tomorrow morning, I should inform him of my return."

"Is that such a wise idea?" Weatherby frowned. "Allow me to speak with him-"

"Father, I would like to see him." Victoria looked at her father with sad eyes and he silenced down immediately. He'd never seen her in such a state and the tone of her voice frightened him. Who was the poor girl that sat before him?

Weatherby settled down. "Very well."

-

"Sir, Miss Swann is here to see you."

Lord Beckett looked up from the documents he was going through with surprise. "Send her in," he said and the uniformed man in the door nodded and disappeared from sight. Soon, Victoria stepped into sight with a careful expression and meek body language. Cutler barely believed his eyes.

Victoria stepped inside. It was strange to be back in frilly dresses and long skirts after wearing considerably less and the heels weren't anywhere near as comfortable as boots. "My Lord," she greeted him so gently he barely heard her.

"Miss Swann," Cutler stood up. "You've returned to Port Royal, then." Victoria nodded hesitantly and averted her eyes. Beckett had expected snarky comments and mocking snorts but there were none of the sorts. "Do come in," he said and went to close the door behind her. 

The young woman stepped further into the office and remained standing, almost as she wasn't sure what to do or say. Her behavior worried Cutler. "Might you tell me why you've come to see me?"

"Yes," Victoria nodded. "I'm afraid my sister is no longer here, and I'm unfortunately unaware of both her and William Turner's current whereabouts." She anxiously rubbed her hands together. "As for Captain Jack Sparrow..." she mumbled. "He's dead."

"Dead?" Beckett arched his eyebrows. "How unfortunate," he sounded neutral when it, in reality, pleased him. "And why have you returned?"

Victoria looked at him. Her eyes held a great deal of sadness and her shoulders slumped as if in defeat. "I confess I am not certain," she said. "Something told me that I should go back. What, I don't know." She shook her head.

Cutler nodded. "Victoria," he stepped closer to her. "What's happened to you?" He asked softly, almost in a whisper. 

"Oh, Cutler." Victoria averted her eyes and looked out through the window. "You wouldn't understand."

Lord Beckett watched the woman before him for a few moments. "Say, I have since your departure... awaited your return, though I was uncertain it would ever come."

"Many times it seemed I would not." Victoria swallowed. "But I'm in need of a familiar face, it brings me comfort to see that someone is still here. Though I'm too late to drive the wedge between us out, I wish you no evil, Cutler."

Her words surprised the Lord. "I thought you a woman of spite, Miss Swann."

Victoria smiled. "So did I," she said. "It seems that I am, after all, very bad at holding a grudge, my Lord."

Her heartbroken expression was unbearable to watch. Lord Beckett brought a hand to caress her cheek. It was as warm and soft as he remembered it and she was more beautiful than ever. Victoria closed her eyes and tears began rolling down her cheeks. Cutler gently wiped them away with the back of his hand. Her hands grasped at his wrists, not to push him away but to seek comfort. 

She peered her eyes open, gazing up at Cutler with a broken-hearted look. She stilled herself and silenced her sniffles. Tentatively, Cutler cupped her cheeks in his hands and leaned down to kiss her. Victoria did not resist or move away. She welcomed it as a vaguely familiar act of affection. With his lips on hers, some wounds seemed to mend while other's widened tenfold. It hurt and healed at the same time. Victoria deepened the kiss and the Lord moved his hands down and wrapped his arms around her, pulling at her waist in a desperate attempt to draw her nearer. 

It felt as if they'd gone back in time and to when they'd been madly in love and faced the trials of the world together. 

Cutler would have done anything in that moment to have her be his again but there was something holding both of them back. Victoria pulled away from him and he let her.

"I should go," Victoria looked up at him, eyes glossy and lips swollen and slightly parted. "We both know this won't be pretty," she sniffled and took a step back. "Forgive me, you must think me so very unpleasant."

"N-No, not at all, Miss Swann." Lord Beckett put his hands behind his back. He hesitated and seemed to be thinking. "Welcome back to Port Royal." He smiled at her and backed away from her, towards his desk. He watched as the woman before him curtsied and hurried towards the door. Victoria Swann had returned a broken woman and he was not sure what to feel about it. Their time had passed and he had more important things to think about. Victoria's feelings, though muddled, were clear enough to him. There was no longer a 'they', and the two of them would do best to move on. Beckett sat down by his desk and looked at out the window. With a sigh, he resumed his task and chose to push the encounter with Miss Swann to the back of his head.

Victoria left the Lord's office and wiped her tears as she headed into the small town. A walk would do her good but the thought of being alone was dreadful. She needed to see faces and familiar places. 

Overlooking the main harbor stood the Port Royal chapel, Victoria had never been religious but the soothing aura of the chapel beckoned her closer and she entered through the main doors. The chapel was not very crowded but not empty either. Victoria seated herself on a pew and looked up at the altar at the end of the aisle. The murals on the walls and the stained glass windows created a warm atmosphere and somewhere within the chapel, someone was playing the organ. 

Without much thought, Victoria brought her hands together and looked at the cross high above the altar. "Good God." Victoria frowned up at the cross. "Help," she whimpered.

She hadn't expected an answer yet she was disappointed with the utter silence she was met by. Rising from the pew, she got up and left to head back home. She walked slowly along the path that brought her back to the Swann estate.

Port Royal stood against the rain well, and from the Swann estate you could overlook the entire town and its harbor, as well as Fort Charles beyond it. 

Victoria sat in her father's study, gazing out through the window on the port down the hill. Everything seemed to have turned grey in the rain. Lightning struck and lights lit up the room before it went dark again.

"Victoria, dear. Wouldn't you rather sit here by the fire?" Weatherby asked. He sat in his armchair near the open fire with a rather large book in his hands. "Come, and warm yourself."

"I'd prefer to stay here, father."

Weatherby sighed. "Suit yourself, dear." He resumed reading his book in the light of the fire and a few candles around himself. 

The estate had been very silent even after Victoria's return. Usually, her presence filled the house with chatter, parties and foreign music she'd brought with her from Europe. Now it laid silent, as if she weren't there. Several times had Weatherby walked past her and not noticed her because she seemed to blend into the house and disappear. 

For the past few days, Victoria seemed to favor the windows with a view of the town and the sea. She'd sit for hours without speaking or looking away. Did she miss the sea? Or what she'd lost? Weatherby wondered.

Victoria sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window. She felt the vibrations of the glass when heavy raindrops hit the other side of the window. Thunder stuck again and this time it illuminated the road leading to the estate. Someone was walking - no, running up the hill in the pouring rain. Victoria straightened and put her hands on the glass, trying to get a better look through the rain and the dark. She couldn't make anything out without light and her eyes darted through the darkness to see the approaching runner.

Lightning lit up the sky and the garden outside and Victoria didn't believe her eyes. "Oh my God," she stayed only a moment longer by the window to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her before she jumped down from the windowsill and rushed out of the study and towards the stairs. The dress was heavy and she lifted her skirt as she ran down the stairs.

"Victoria!" Her father called after her.

She didn't stop and grabbed the handles of the front doors and pulled them open. Across the yard in the pouring rain stood James Norrington, very much alive. "James!" Victoria cried and raced out into the storm to meet him. 

James jogged towards her, out of breath from the run up the hill, and when she reached him he pulled her into his embrace. "James, you're alive," Victoria put her hands on his cheeks. "You're alive."

He kissed her like she was life and he was dying. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer to his body. 

Unlike the kiss Victoria had shared with Cutler, that had been a desperate try to find a footing and to figure out if her feelings towards the man were still there, this was like a fire raging within her. Everything felt right. James was a man she knew was good. He'd protected her when it mattered, even if it could have cost him his life. A deep sense of respect and admiration flared in her for James Norrington. His rough lips against hers awoke a swarm of fluttering butterflies within her stomach.

James pulled away, even more breathless than before. "I thought you were dead," he told her. "When I heard about the Pearl a few days ago, I thought I'd never see you again. When I heard from Lord Beckett that you were alive..."

"How I wish we hadn't left you, James," Victoria smiled and James kissed her again.

She pulled away and he gave her a sheepish smile. "Forgive me, I forget my place," he murmured. "It's joyous to see a face you thought you'd lost."

Victoria understood what he meant. Seeing him made her believe that her sad excuse for a prayer had been answered. A higher power had brought James back and kept him safe. She wasn't about to lose him again. 

They went back inside together. Weatherby was shocked to see Norriton and called for the servants to arrange something warm for him to drink and eat. He was still dressed in the same clothes as he'd been when Victoria had last seen him, which meant he must have been traveling ever since.

Victoria sat by his side as he told her how he'd gotten away from the island and made his way back to Port Royal. "Well, angels must have been watching over you, James Norrington. I've not met many men as lucky as you."

"What are you do to now?" Victoria asked him. 

"I've been re-enlisted by Lord Beckett," James said. "Promoted even, to Admiral, and I shall resume my duties with the Navy. Hopefully, I'll be allowed to stay in Port Royal a while longer. I want to rest for a while before I leave."

He smiled at Victoria and she blushed. "Should you need anything, I'd be happy to try and arrange something for you," Weatherby assured. He looked pleased to see James. "You just ask."

James bowed his head as a grateful gesture. "Thank you, governor. There's one thing I'd like to ask if you don't mind," James said.

"Name it," Governor Swann nodded.

"I'd like to spend the time I'm granted in Port Royal with your daughter," James said. "She's become a great comfort to me. If she's willing, my time here would be hers." He took Victoria's hand and gave it a squeeze. She blushed but the smile she wore gave her answer away. A definite yes.

Weatherby's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "I see," he said. "Well, I've no objection to that. I'll leave the answer to my daughter since it's her time you're asking for." 

James turned to Victoria. "Might I have an answer to my question, Miss Swann?"

"If the Admiral wishes for my presence, I shan't keep it from him." Victoria seemed to have regained her smile since it wouldn't go away. "Besides," she lowered her voice. "I believe we had something planned, before we got so rudely interrupted."

"Indeed," James chuckled. He looked at the clock standing near the wall. "I shall take my leave, it's late and you no doubt should rest." He bent down and kissed Victoria's cheek. "I will send word tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," Victoria murmured. "Good night, Admiral Norrington."

James nodded at her and then her father before leaving the estate. Weatherby watched him head back into town through the window and then turned to his daughter, who sat with a gentle smile on her lips as she watched the fire in the fireplace. 

Weatherby smiled to himself. "Remarkable man," he chuckled. "Was I correct in assuming you that you might fancy him?" He asked his daughter. Her smile widened and she nodded.

"I've always fancied men in uniform," she said. "Englishmen with titles appeal to me." She covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to still her giggles. She looked at her father. "Do you think he would like me, father? Or are his feelings for Elizabeth only?"

"From what I could tell, his feelings were clear the moment he arrived," her father snorted and shook his head. "But... I sense his intentions are good. He's trying to be a good man, and anyone who tries is worthy in my eyes."

Victoria nodded and looked back into the fire. "Yes," she cooed. "A good man."

"Dearest," Weatherby walked from the window to his daughter and knelt before her. "You are much like your mother, a spirit as wild and free as the wind. Ever changing but true to yourself. I wish you nothing but happiness and I hope that you find it."

"I'd like to find it, Father. Settling down doesn't sound so bad anymore," she said and her father beamed at her. 

"What a relief for an old man to hear," he chuckled and groaned as he got back up. "I'm not as young as I was, my dear. But I will always do what I can for you. Always." He bent down and kissed his daughter's forehead. "Good night, darling."

Victoria smiled up at him. "Good night, Father."

She remained in her seat and for the first time in almost a week, she felt some peace. The silence didn't bother her and she didn't feel so alone. Perhaps she had a future ahead of her after all. Victoria let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair. 

"Elizabeth, I hope you're all right," she mumbled to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actual Jack Davenport trash.


	9. There and Back Again

Elizabeth pulled her coat tighter around herself as the watched the icicles on the mast above. Two men of the crew had been sent up to remove them, so no accidents would happen on the deck. She was aboard Hai Peng, a ship owned by one of the Pirate Lords; Sao Feng. They'd met with him in Singapore but the meeting had gone awry with Beckett's agents crashing into the bathhouse where the meeting was held. She, the remaining crew of the Black Pearl and a few of Sao Feng's own men had set off to find and bring back Jack Sparrow from within Davy Jones' Locket.

At first - and she was still doubting - Elizabeth had thought it impossible, but Tia Dalma, a woman who seemed to know much about anything you'd ask her, told them she had a solution.

With the right map you could find anything, and from Sao Feng they'd acquired both a map, a ship and a crew to find who they were looking for. They were to sail to the end of the world, go beyond it, find Jack and bring him back. How was still uncertain.

Elizabeth shivered. They were sailing through a passage of solid ice. On the bridge, William sat with Mr. Gibbs and examined their charts. The map from Sao Feng had a circle cut out in the middle and if you spun it you could transform the map to lead to different locations, depending on how you pieced it together.

"No one said anything about cold," Pintel complained. He wasn't dressed for cold weather and leaving the warm weathers of Singapore and the Caribbean made it especially difficult to handle the cold.

Ragetti glared up at William. "I'm sure there's a good reason for our suffering," he muttered. 

Elizabeth walked past the two and approached William and Barbossa. Barbossa was an addition to the crew Elizabeth was still uncertain about. She hadn't forgotten how he'd taken her from her home to use her blood in a ritual to break a curse. She remembered Jack Sparrow, putting a bullet through Barbossa's chest and how he'd died as the curse of immortality had let him go. Miraculously, he was now alive due to magic or another curse Elizabeth didn't know but he seemed to be on their side now.

Pintel rubbed his freezing hands together and blew on them to warm them. "Why didn't the obeah woman just bring back Jack the way she brought back Barbossa?" He asked.

Tia Dalma appeared beside him. She was dressed in layers of shawls and didn't seem to be bothered by the cold. "Because," she said. "Barbossa was only dead." She looked across the deck at those who now listened to her. "Jack Sparrow be taken body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can conjure for himself, stretching on forever... That's what awaits in Davy Jones' Locker." With that, she moved away and Pintel gulped as he turned back to his crewmate. 

"I knew there was a good reason."

Elizabeth walked to stand by William's side. He read the words formed on the map. "Over the edge, back, over again, sunrise sets, flash of green." He looked at the man before him. "Do you care to interpret, Barbossa?"

Elizabeth pressed herself into William's side, hoping to share some warmth in the cold weather. Barbossa looked pleased with himself, which he did most of the time, and turned to Gibbs. "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs nodded. "I reckon I've seen my share," he said and turned to look at William. Gibbs leaned on the table. "It happens on rare occasions, at the last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky," he rose his hands up in a dramatic gesture, "Some go their whole lives and never see it. Some say they've seen it when they haven't. Some say-"

"Some say it signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead!" Pintel piped up and Gibbs glared at him for interrupting.

Ragetti flailed his hand at the map. "It's a  _riddle_ ," he said. "Riddles are fun. 'Over the edge, back, over again..."

"Riddles aren't fun!" Pintel cried. "The way it goes is some poor bloke end up dead but just because he realizes he did something he wasn't supposed to, but then it's too late and he dies a horrible and oftentimes ironical death. This time I bet the poor bloke will be you and I!"

"See, Mr. Turner?" Barbossa grinned. "We will find a way," he put his hand on the map and patted it. "It's not getting to the land of the dead that's the problem... it's getting back."

William sighed and withdrew from the upper deck, Elizabeth followed him. They walked away for a bit of privacy and both leaned against the railing. Will sighed again and looked over at Elizabeth.

"How long do we continue not talking?" he asked, referring to how the two hadn't spoken properly for days.

Elizabeth still seemed reluctant to talk and wrapped her arms around herself. "Once we rescue Jack, everything will be fine," she said.

For a moment Will stood silent and tried to understand whether her words had some hidden meaning. Deciding to accept her words he smiled. "Then we will rescue Jack."

Things had been strained between them. William was confused to why Elizabeth seemed to avoid him half the time and averted his tries to speak. It was discouraging but William was a patient man. "Have you heard anything from your sister?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked up and shook her head. "No, not a word. But if she made it to Port Royal Father will take care of her."

"Yes," William thought for a moment. "I miss her."

With a mournful look, Elizabeth nodded. "I miss her too. I hope she's well... Poor Victoria." She wrapped her arms around herself and gave William a weak smile before leaving him without another word.

William watched her leave and then turned back to look where they were headed. They'd passed through the passage of ice and made it out to open waters. 

Something in the distance caught his attention. There was something strange with the horizon. It was coming closer. "Barbossa! Ahead!" Will shouted and pointed towards the nearing line.

"Aye!" Barbossa stood up on the bridge. "These be waters I know. We're good and lost now."

"Lost?" 

"For certain you have to be lost, to find a place that can't be found." Barbossa chuckled. "Elseways everyone would know where it was, aye?" He laughed manically and the crew looked over the rail.

Gibbs alerted the crew that they were, in fact, gaining speed. The crewmen ran around the deck to their stations while the vessel gathered more speed and the sound of raging water could be heard. 

William stared wide-eyed at the horizon, that wasn't a horizon at all, but what seemed to be the end of the world. "Rudder full! Hard a-port! Gather way and keep her trim!"

A sailor scrambled to the rudder to follow orders but Barbossa stopped him. "Belay that. Let her run straight and true!"

Leaning over the railing as they approached the edge, William saw nothing but a black abyss below the edge of the sea. Water poured down like a massive waterfall without an end. By then the front of the ship was already jutting out over the edge and it was too late to turn back.

The roar of the water was deafening and Will ran towards the rudder, trying to wrestle it to turn. To no avail. The hull of the Hai Peng was already well over the edge and the ship tilted just enough for it to topple over the edge and plummet down into the darkness of the abyss.

The crew screamed and in the commotion, you could hear Barbossa laugh.

-

The sun shone down upon the Pearl and her Captain. She stood stranded in a basin of milky white dirt, leaning to the side but not enough to topple over.

Jack laid sprawled on the deck and watched the cloudless sky. It had been days... or was it years? Maybe it was just a couple of hours? He couldn't know since the sun never moved and there was no wind. Jack sat up and picked his spyglass out from within his coat. There was nothing but the same empty wasteland for miles. He could try walking but only God knew where he'd end up. Besides, he didn't want to abandon the Pearl a second time, even though he technically didn't leave her the last time.

"Jack, Jack, Jack..." A voice came from the bridge.

With a start, Jack jumped up to his feet and turned around. "You," he pointed at the woman on top of the stairs.

"Me," she smirked putting a hand over her bust and twirling a lock of her hair around the fingers of her other hand. "You miss me, Jack."

Jack pouted his lips and swayed slightly where he stood. "Well... I've been here alone for a very long time now. A man might miss a woman, love." He slowly walked towards the stairs but the woman on the bridge disappeared. Jack stopped halfway up the stairs.

"You don't miss me like you miss other women, Jack." This time the voice came from behind him.

Jack turned around. The familiar woman stood at the bottom of the stairs with a gentle smile. "Victoria," Jack murmured.

"The thing that vex all men," the not-quite-Victoria cooed. "Even Jack Sparrow."

"What can I say," Jack smiled briefly. "I am but a man, and a man I am."

The woman before him laughed, and the next time Jack blinked she was gone again. Twirling around he searched for her around the deck.

She appeared again between the stairs, outside his quarters. She curled her finger towards herself, beckoning him to follow. The doors to the cabin opened without being touched and the woman stepped inside. Jack scrambled down the stairs to follow but when he entered his quarters she was nowhere to be seen. The doors behind him slowly closed and the light in the cabin went out.

"Jack..." her voice was breathless. "I need you."

The Captain couldn't see anything in the pitch black room. He remained where he was, in fear of moving. The moans of the woman seemed to come from every direction. Taunting him as well as luring him in.

"I need you, Jack..."

A candlelight suddenly illuminated the far end of the cabin and the Captain's bed. On it, the woman laid sprawled out over the sheets. She wore little but a thin gown to cover her crucial parts. Her hair laid spread out like a fan over the mattress and her skin glistened in the dim light.

"Jack..." She moaned.

Jack gulped, uncertain of what to do. It was pure will that kept him from joining the woman in bed. He slowly approached the bed. The reflection of the woman he missed looked up at him with those wanting eyes that made his whole body stand in attention. He seated himself on the bed and she rolled over and got on her knees, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning against his back.

Closing his eyes, Jack took a moment to enjoy the touch. Her fingers danced over his shoulders and down to his collarbone before they wandered down towards his abdomen. Her chest pressed against his back and her warmth spread to him through the thin fabrics that separated them. The Captain felt how his body got riled up by the sensual touches. He tensed up and relaxed all at once. It felt as if he was melting and turning to stone at the same time. His pants were uncomfortably tight, his erection straining against them.

"Jack Sparrow," the woman purred into his ear.

She smelled sweet and her breath was warm against his earlobe.

"Victoria." A moan slipped from Jack's lips. The touch was suddenly gone along with the warmth and the sweet smells. He opened his eyes. The room was once again lowered into darkness. Victoria was not there. He was alone.

Jack rose from the bed and walked back out to the deck. It was empty.

He cursed and stomped with his foot. With a huff, he heaved himself over the railing to try and find a way to get himself and his Pearl away from that cursed place.

-

Darkness, and then light. William sucked in a breath of what should have been air but got nothing but water. He hadn't noticed falling into a body of water. There had been no impact but when he opened his eyes he saw a surface above him and he floated well below it. 

William surfaced and looked around, not far away was land and the rest of the crew seemed to be trudging water around him. "Elizabeth!" he called and a hand rose from the water to his right.

"Here, Will," Elizabeth replied and William felt relieved. She was okay.

They swam ashore and dragged themselves onto the pearly white sand of the beach. Elizabeth looked around and noted the absolute desolation. There was nothing but dunes of sand before them and behind them was a neverending ocean.

"This is truly a God-forsaken place," Gibbs shook his head.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't see Jack. Not anyone at all."

"He is here," Barbossa assured her. "Davy Jones never once gave up that what he's took."

William grew frustrated. "And does it matter? We are trapped here, by your doing. No different than Jack!" He said and pointed the scraps of the Hai Peng. "Our ship's a wreck, so how are we to get back?"

"The ship was a wreck when we boarded her," Barbossa swatted the young man away. "And our witty Jack is closer than you think."

"Will..." Elizabeth tugged at William's sleeve. He looked at her. Her eyes were locked on the sand dune above them and the ship that was making its way over it, sliding through the sand as if it was a wave of water. It was the Black Pearl. On it, they could see Jack move across the deck.

Gibbs let out a laugh. "Slap me thrice and hand me to my momma! It's Jack!" He cheered.

The Pearl slid down the dune and splashed into the sea from which the crew had come. She settled nicely into the water. Jack Sparrow climbed off the Pearl and Gibbs walked up to him with a wide grin.

"Mr. Gibbs," Jack said sharply.

"Aye, Captain!" Gibbs didn't miss a beat and saluted his Captain.

Jack nodded. "I thought so. I expect you can account for your actions?"

"Sir?" Gibbs looked confused as the rest of the crew came to greet Jack. 

Jack pointed at the pearl and thrashed his arms around. He looked more delirious than usual. "There had been a perpetual and virulent lack of discipline upon my vessel! Why?" Jack shouted. "Why is that?"

Hesitantly, Gibbs leaned closer to whisper, "Sir, you're in Davy Jones' Locker."

"I know that," Jack replied, though it was obvious that he didn't. "I know where I am and don't think I don't!"

Barbossa grinned as he approached Jack and held his arms out, greeting him as he were a friend. "Jack Sparrow." Jack seemed to freeze at the sight of him but soon recognized him and smiled.

"Ah, Hector! It's been too long!"

"Yes, Isle de Muerta, remember? You shot me!"Barbossa nodded.

Jack grimaced and drew back. "I did not!" He defended himself and spotted Tia Dalma behind Barbossa. "Tia Dalma, out and about!" He walked up to her and kissed her hand. "You add an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium."

Will leaned closer to Barbossa. "He thinks we're a hallucination?"

Jack looked around at the crew. "Something is missing...  _someone_  is missing." He counted everyone. "Shouldn't there be another woman around?"

"Young Victoria's left us, sir," Gibbs informed him. "Upon your disappearance, she thought it best to return to Port Royal."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and thought for a short moment. Disappointment pooled in his stomach but he thought it best to hide his discouragement. "Shame," he muttered. "I kind of liked her in the end, when she hit her head. She was so pleasantly quiet and agreeable."

"Jack," Elizabeth piped up. Jack recoiled when she approached him. "This is real, we're all here," she said. 

Jack eyed her with mistrust and fear in his eyes. He returned to Gibb's side. "The Locker, you say?" He asked and Gibbs confirmed it. 

"We've come to rescue you!" Elizabeth insisted.

"Have you now?" Jack snapped. "That's a good one. Very kind of you, but it seems as I possess a ship, and you don't. You're currently the ones in the need of a rescuing and I'm not so sure I'm in the mood." He crossed his arms over his chest. 

Barbossa laughed. "I see my ship, right there." He pointed and Jack turned to look. 

"Can't see it," he said and squinted in the direction of Barbossa's extended hand. Jack leaned to the side and stood on his toes to search for a second vessel. "It must be a tiny ship hiding behind the Pearl."

Growling, Barbossa stepped up but William stopped him. "Jack, listen," William said. "Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones. He controls the Flying Dutchman."

"He's taking over the seas," Elizabeth said.

"The song has been sung, Jack. The Brethren Court is called." Tia Dalma stepped forward.

Jack sighed dramatically. "I leave you folk alone for just a minute, and look what happens." he sounded disappointed but not very eager to help.

"Aye, Jack. The world needs you back something fierce." Gibbs patted Jack's shoulder. "And you need a crew."

"Yes," Jack pouted. "But why would I want to sail with anyone of you? Four of you have tried to kill me in the past. One of you succeeded." Silence fell over the crew. "Oh," Jack smirked. "She hasn't told you?"

William turned to Elizabeth while Jack started recruiting a crew for the Pearl. "Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded to know.

Elizabeth refused to answer at first but gave in. "It was our only chance. We would all have been dead if hadn't done what I did."

Behind them, Jack seemed to have gathered a crew he was happy with and opened his compass to settle a direction. The needle on the compass went haywire and spun around without any indication it would stop.

Barbossa laughed. "Which way are you going, Jack?" He asked and held up the maps from Hei Peng. 

Jack had little choice but to let everyone aboard the Pearl and while he and Barbossa argued over who'd be shouting the orders, Elizabeth retreated to below deck, closely followed by Will. She seated herself in a dark corner and Will stood before her.

"You left Jack to the Kraken," he said.

Elizabeth looked close to tears. "He's rescued now. It's done with." She averted her eyes. "I didn't have a choice."

"You chose not to tell me," William mumbled.

"It wasn't your burden to bear." William looked away and walked away, leaving her alone. 

Up on deck, Jack and Barbossa's little skirmish had turned into a display of authority. One constantly to outshine the other for the title as 'Captain'. It was a battle Jack seemed to be losing but he refused to surrender.

The sky had turned dark and it appeared to have become night if the Locker had day and night. "The water!" One of the crew hollered. "There's bodies in the water!"

Pale bodies floated by, just under the surface. They were turned face up with their eyes closed as they drifted past the ship. Elizabeth came up to from below deck, wiping her eyes and going to see what the commotion was about. 

The crew lined the sides of the ship, staring down into the water and Elizabeth made her way to look for herself. Tia Dalma looked at the people in the water with a crushed expression. "They should be in the care of Davy Jones," she said. "That was the duty he was charged with by the goddess Calypso; to ferry those who died at sea to the other side." She clenched her hands into fists. "But he has become a monster."

"He wasn't always... monstrous?" Ragetti asked.

Tia shook her head. "No, he was a man once." She looked back down at the bodies. "Poor, unfortunate souls... now they must find their own way."

The bodies were a macabre sight and not far away a fleet of small boats floated towards them, in the same direction as the bodies. The boats were all lit by a lantern each and in each boat sat a motionless man, or woman, or child.

"There are boats coming."

"We're but ghosts to them. They heed us not," Tia Dalma murmured.

Barbossa nodded. He looked grave and looked down at the boats. "Best to leave them be."

The boats passed them in an eerie silence and the crew of the Pearl watched the boats float by without a word. Elizabeth frowned at the sight and inspected the boats closer. One of the boats that passed near their ship caught her attention, she recognized the passenger.

"My father!" She shouted and pointed at the boat. "We've made it back! That's my father!" She waved her arms to gain her father's attention. He remained motionless.

Jack put his hand on her shoulder. "Elizabeth," he frowned. "We're not back yet."

Elizabeth stared at him and then shook her head as she realized what it meant. "Father!" She shouted, throwing herself against the railing. "Father!"

Weatherby Swann seemed to have heard and looked around in confusion. His eyes fell on the Pearl and found Elizabeth on the deck. "Elizabeth!" he looked concerned. "Are you dead?"

"N-No..." Elizabeth shook her head.

Pleased, Weatherby nodded. His boat slowly floated forward and Elizabeth walked along the railing to keep up with him. "I think I am," Weatherby said. He didn't sound sad. 

"Y-You can't be," Elizabeth said. Another horrifying thought hit her. If her father was dead, what had become of her sister? "Father! Where's Victoria?"

Weatherby's boat had almost passed the Pearl. "Victoria," he mumbled. "I don't know," he confessed. "Where is your sister?"

"Father! Come aboard!" Elizabeth pleaded. "Please, we'll bring you back."

Her father didn't seem to hear her and muttered things to himself about his daughters and something about a chest. "A heart... if you stab the heart yours would have to take its place... and you sail forever... The Dutchman must always have a Captain."

"Father!" Elizabeth cried. There was no more ship for her to walk on and her father's boat floated away. Elizabeth climbed the rail, ready to jump in and fetch her father.

"She mustn't leave the ship!" Tia Dalma warned them and both Jack and William rushed to prevent Elizabeth from leaving the Pearl.

"Father!" Elizabeth shouted as her father's boat floated away and out of sight. Only the lantern was visible and defeat formed a lump in her throat. She clung to William and cried into his shirt.

William wrapped his arms around her and turned to Tia. "Is there anything we can do?"

Tia Dalma slowly shook her head. "He is at peace."

"Not like this, please," Elizabeth whimpered and looked back up. The boats carrying the dead kept coming and she returned to the railing to keep watch. "Victoria!" She shouted into the dark. "Victoria Swann!"

Jack watched helplessly as Elizabeth called for her sister. Truth be told, he was just as worried about Victoria as Elizabeth was. He wouldn't be able to stand something happening to the woman. The heartbroken howls of Elizabeth were hard to hear and Jack retreated to the Captain's cabin without a word.

"She's not here, Elizabeth," William tried to calm the crying sister. "Elizabeth, look at me." He forced Elizabeth to meet his eyes. "Your sister isn't here. She must still be alive." He sounded stern but Elizabeth nodded.

"Y-Yes," she whimpered. "You're probably right. You must be." She turned back to look at the boats. "No, Victoria would not lay down and die. She's alive."

William nodded. "When this is over, I say we find her," he said and Elizabeth agreed. 

They stood silently on the deck of the Pearl and watched the boats float by, carrying the souls of the dead to the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I wanted to try and write something smutty but I'm a wimp and backed out... Sorry!


	10. Boarded... Again

Days without wind or movement passed. The water supplies on the Pearl had run out, as had the food. Starvation and thirst threatened to take the crew. 

William watched the sunset on the horizon far away, then at Jack who studied the map, they'd been trying to make sense of for days. Jack stared at the charts but didn't move or speak.

"Why doesn't he do something?" He walked up to the map to read the text again. "Over the edge, back, over again, sunrise sets, flash of green."

Gibbs shook his head. "There's no sense to it. Sunrises don't set."

"And the green flash happens at sunset, not sunrise." He sighed in frustration.

Even Elizabeth had a look at the maps without being able to make sense of it. "Riddles..." she sighed. "I wish Victoria were here, she was always one for riddles."

"So you say," Jack mumbled. "Do tell, where your...  _lovely_  sister went. I'm dying of curiosity."

"After we left the Pearl," Elizabeth sighed, "Victoria couldn't handle more loss. She returned to Port Royal, to our father. I don't know what became of her."

Jack pouted. "She willingly returned into the claws of the Lord?"

"She wasn't the woman you know when she left, Jack. Victoria's never lost someone like she'd lost you or James. And then... the both of you in one day? Her heart couldn't take it, I imagine."

"Oh?"

"Victoria wears her heart on her sleeve," Elizabeth shrugged. "Though it takes forever and a year to gain her respect, she loves easily."

Jack nodded and went back to looking at the charts. Elizabeth left him alone to think. Jack admitted to himself that it wasn't as fun when only one of the Swann sisters were around. Elizabeth was much too dull, and Jack wanted someone who could challenge him as only Victoria could. He idly played with the charts lining it up in various ways while he thought. He stopped when new words formed. "Up is down. That's maddeningly helpful..." he muttered. 

He spun the charts further, watching the image of a ship move across the painted map and aline with the words, only... "Upside down," Jack looked down towards the deck.

He jumped to his feet and hurried down the stairs, dramatically pointing at nothing in particular out at sea. "Over there! What's that?" he shouted. 

"Where?" Gibbs hurried to Jack's side to look for himself.

Jack yelped and turned around and ran to the railing on the other side of the ship. The crew who were up on deck followed to catch a glimpse of what Jack was looking at. "Now it's over here!" Then suddenly, Jack turned and ran back again. "Over there!" he pointed. "It moved! It's very fast!"

He ran back and forth, and the crew followed. Barbossa rolled his eyes as he watched from the bridge. Had Jack Sparrow finally snapped and caved into madness? Was his crew so loyal they'd follow him into it?

Barbossa looked at the maps and made the connection himself. He laughed and turned to the deck with a wide grin.

Pintel stood beside him and noted how the ship shifted in the water. "He's rocking the ship."

"We're rocking the ship," Gibbs chuckled as he ran back and forth like Jack and the rest of the crew.

Realization dawned on Barbossa. Jack wasn't insane after all. "Aye, he's onto it." He turned back to the deck. "All hands together! Time it with the swell."

Elizabeth followed Jack as he ran back and forth across the deck and the ship's rocking became more and more severe. Soon the tilt of the ship was so steep that they had to hold onto the railing when they reached it.

Then, the ship fell over sideways, tipped and rolled over into the water. Elizabeth grasped the railing as she and the crew were lowered into the sea and the Pearl was turned upside down.

Even underwater, they could see the horizon and how the sun sank into the sea. Sunset turned into sunrise, and a green flash lit up the water around them. 

The heavy pull of the water seemed tenfold of what it should be, and William felt his hands slip from the railing. Elizabeth stared wide-eyed at him as he sank, she tried to reach him but couldn't as he sank into the darkness below them. If they hadn't been underwater, she'd have yelled, but she needed her breath. 

William sank and grabbed a rope, hoping it would keep him on the ship as the Pearl too started sinking at an alarming pace towards the dark.

Far below them it soon looked as if the bottom of the ocean came closer but the closer it came the sooner it was clear that it wasn't the bottom of the sea, but the surface. Were they sinking? Or surfacing?

The Black Pearl crashed through the water, and the crew fell back down onto the deck that had just moments earlier been upside down. Gibbs jumped back up to his feet and looked around. They were no longer in the bleak world of Davy Jones' Locker but saw a familiar sky and deep blue water. "Blessed sweet Westerlies! We're back!" Gibbs laughed.

"It's sunrise," Elizabeth pointed at the rising sun. 

Barbossa stood and looked around, too. "Aye," he turned to Jack and drew his gun. "Head us for Shipwreck Cove. We've a meeting to attend, Jack."

Jack was quick to draw his own gun and point it at Barbossa. "The Pearl is my ship, and I'm her Captain! I'm in charge, and I say we go the other way!" He argued.

"I won't leave  _my_  ship in your command!" Barbossa spat.

With a pout, Jack squeezed the trigger to shoot, but nothing but a click was heard. Barbossa sighed, putting his gun back in his holster. "Wet gunpower, as good as goo."

"Enough!" William interfered. "We need food and water if we are going to go anywhere. There's an island nearby, and it's bound to have fresh water."

"I'm not leaving the ship," Jack crossed his arms over his chest. He was as stubborn as always and since Jack did not intend to leave the ship, then neither did Barbossa. 

Elizabeth sighed, stepping between the arguing Captains. "Here's an idea. Both of you go, and leave the ship in my command until you return."

Jack and Barbossa exchanged glares but seemed to agree that it was a decent plan to both leave. With a huff, they scoped out the nearby island, and Jack gawked at what he saw through his spyglass. 

He slowly lowered the spyglass and handed it to his first mate. Gibbs had a look and looked as shocked as Jack. "Mother of Goats," Gibbs said.

"Take us in," Jack said, and the ship neared the island.

On the beach laid the Kraken, dead and washed up. It was enormous, even from a distance, as it laid spread out over the sand. A boat was sent ashore with William, Jack, and Barbossa on it, along with enough crewmen to carry water and food should they find any. Elizabeth remained on the Pearl with the rest of the crew to keep watch.

Elizabeth sat on the stairs with her chin leaned against her hands. The crew around her spoke Chinese as they patrolled the deck. Perhaps it was their calmness or the way they never warned her that made Elizabeth realize their betrayal when another ship approached.

She said nothing when they looked at her with sly smiles but when they moved to restrain her, she put up the best fight she could, considering she was alone against several men.

The approaching ship was a Chinese fighting ship. Grand with red sails and golden details along its hull. She gracefully cut through the water, slicing the waves as she moved towards the Pearl with impressive speed.

Several of the men that had gone to the island had been Sao Feng's. Elizabeth wondered if her companions had been luckier than she.

Elizabeth glared at the man who boarded their ship. Sao Feng watched her with his hands behind his back. His eyes were dark, and his gaze was studying. He was trying to figure her out, and Elizabeth showed him no emotion but a rebellious defiance.

The Chinese Captain spoke to his crew, and a boat approached from the island. It looked as if the chinese crew had all been deceiving them.

The moment William was brought aboard and saw Elizabeth in chains he turned to Sao Feng with a scowl. "She's not part of the bargain. Release her." He ordered.

"What bargain would you be talking about, Turner?" Barbossa barked.

Sao Feng sighed. "You heard Captain Turner. Release her," he said, and Elizabeth's chains were taken off her.

" _Captain_  Turner?" Jack frowned. " _Captain_?" he asked in disbelief.

Elizabeth pushed herself away from the men and looked at William with wary eyes. Was he one of the traitors too? She didn't know what was going on, but it seemed they'd both been keeping secrets from one another. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked him.

William shook his head. "It was my burden to bear." His words angered Elizabeth, but she remained as calm as she could. 

Barbossa let out a groan. "The only way a pirate can make a living these days is by betraying other pirates." He grunted.

William stepped forward, feeling the need to defend himself and his actions. "I need the Pearl. That's the only reason I came on this voyage," Will confessed. 

Jack looked absolutely fuming by then. "He  _needs the Pearl_ ," he exclaimed, "and you feel guilty," he looked at Elizabeth, "and you," he turned to Barbossa, "you and your Brethren Court. Pfft. Didn't anyone come to save me because they missed me?"

Gibbs, Cotton and Marty, all loyal members of Jack's crew, rose their hands in the air. Pintel and Ragetti soon followed. Jack smiled at them. "I'll go stand over there with them." He attempted to move across the deck but was stopped by Sao Feng.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but there's an old friend who wants to see you first."

Jack frowned again. "I'm not certain I can survive more visits from old friends..." He muttered.

Sao Feng chuckled and nodded to a point over Jack's shoulder. "Let's find out." He said.

A large vessel rounded the island towards them. The Navy's pride; the Endeavour.

The soldiers of the East India Trading company boarded the Pearl and surrounded its crew. Jack was immediately seized by two soldiers and dragged aboard the Endeavour. The rest were put in chains.

-

Jack looked at the Lord on the other side of the room. He thought himself all high and mighty because his ship was neatly decorated and he wasn't wearing chains.

Another thought hit Jack. This was the man Victoria had once been engaged to. This was a man she loved. One he had to compete with. What did Victoria see in Cutler Beckett? 

"Remarkable..." The Lord said with an amused smile. "The last I saw of that ship, she was on fire, a blackened hull sinking beneath the waves." He chuckled as he peered out through the window towards the Black Pearl. 

Jack scowled at that and began looking around in the cabin. "Thank you for that memory..." he muttered as he opened lids and looked under pieces of papers spread through over the shelves and tables.

"We had a deal. I contracted you to deliver cargo on my behalf," Beckett turned and watched the pirate search his quarters. "You chose to liberate it."

Stopping his inspection of a silver bowl, Jack took a moment to think back and glanced at his wrist. The Pirate brand etched into his skin tingled with the memories. "People aren't cargo, mate," he mumbled without looking at the Lord.

Beckett sighed. "And you incurred a heavy debt to raise her back up, didn't you?" He talked about the Pearl. "It's not here, Jack," he sighed when the pirate resumed his search.

Jack finally turned to the Lord with an inquisitive innocence. "What's not?"

"The heart of Davy Jones," Beckett didn't miss a beat. "It's safely aboard the Flying Dutchman, and so unavailable for use as leverage to satisfy your debt to the good Captain."

Jack smiled goofily. "By my reckoning, that account's been settled."

"By your death," Cutler Beckett growled lowly. "Yet... here you are."

Frowning, Jack wondered how Victoria could stand the man. He quickly assumed that the people-shipping nature of this man had been hidden to her. Victoria Swann would never accept anyone who considered a human being as cargo. He forced another smile to answer the Lord.

"Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by," he said and walked around the table in the center of the room. 

Beckett glared at him and slammed his fists onto the top of the table. "Your  _good deed_  cost me much, Jack!" He hissed.

"And you spared me any possibility of ending up as anything other than what I am. And for that, I thank you," Jack inclined his head at the Lord. He studied the chart and small model ships on the table for a moment. "Will someone be in soon to draw you a bath?"

"Very funny, but I've no time for your jokes."

"Who said anything about a joke," Jack wrinkled his nose, and the Lord glared at him.

Cutler poured himself and Jack a glass of Sherry. Jack knew that Cutler Beckett, if anyone, would know what had become of Victoria. He wondered if he should ask or keep their acquaintance a secret. Would she become a leverage on him if Cutler knew about his concern? Most likely, he deducted and decided not to mention Victoria at all.

He spotted a familiar piece sitting on Beckett's desk. One of the Pieces of Eight.

-

"You agreed," William hissed at Sao Feng, "the Black Pearl was to be mine."

"And so it was," Sao Feng stepped aside, and one of the men from his crew took a swing at William, aiming for his stomach. Without means to defend himself and his hands tied behind his back, William couldn't do anything. He coughed as he got the wind knocked out of him. He was pulled back up to his feet and dragged to the side. Sao Feng turned to Barbossa and Elizabeth, who were also in chains and awaiting his words. 

Elizabeth glared, not at Sao Feng, but at William who was shoved back down on the floor. There was no one she could trust, it seemed and decided to rely on herself from then on.

"The Pearl was to be mine," Sao Feng said to the man standing behind them. It was a rather short man dressed in black with had a menacing look on his face. Mercer he was called, Beckett's right-hand man.

Mercer grinned when Sao Feng demanded an answer. "And so it was," murmured. His voice was rough and sent shivers down Elizabeth's spine. "Lord Beckett wouldn't give up the only ship that might prove a match to the Dutchman, would he?"

Sao Feng growled but knew that the Navy's sailors outnumbered his crew by far. He gave a nod, and his crew stood down.

Mercer's grin widened and walked away. Barbossa clicked his tongue and sidled up next to Sao Feng. "Shame they're not bound to honor the Code of the Brethren. Of course, honor's a hard thing to come by, nowadays."

With a glare, Sao Feng turned his head to Barbossa, his eyes were wild with anger, and his lips parted to reveal gritted teeth."There's no honor in remaining with the losing side," he hissed. "Leaving for the winning side is good business."

"The losing side, says you," Barbossa shook his head.

Sao Feng stepped closer, so close their noses were inches apart. "They have the Dutchman, and what does the Brethren have?"

Barbossa looked sly and looked around in the room. "We have... Calypso." The two pirates exchanged knowing looks. "I aim to bring back the wild and untamed seas, to restore them to what they once were. For that, I need the Brethren Court." He looked sly yet confident even though he was in chains. Perhaps such arrogance came with the title of 'Captain'? "All the court," Barbossa pressed, making sure Sao Feng knew how important it was for both of them to attend the meeting.

"What are you proposing?" Sao Feng was open for negotiation but not entirely convinced.

"What will you be accepting?"

"The girl," Sao Feng didn't hesitate nor pause and nodded at Elizabeth. 

She jutted her chin out and blinked her eyes. "What?"

"You give me the girl, and in exchange, I'll help you escape," Sao Feng proposed. He thought it a reasonable price for such a service and eyes Elizabeth where she stood chained before him.

"Done," she nodded.

"No. Not Done," Will said. 

Elizabeth glared at him. "You've put us in this state. If this frees us, then... Done." She told the Chinese Captain and gave Will a grave look. "My choice. My choice alone."

"They're pirates," Will protested. 

"I've had enough experience dealing with pirates." William silenced down. He knew that she meant him and it was not what he wanted to hear. 

Sao Feng looked very pleased, and Elizabeth and the rest were released from their restraints. Sao Feng reached out a hand to grab Elizabeth by the arm. She pulled away, and he bowed his head. "Apologies, I know I must earn your favor," he said.

Surprised by his reaction and more so over the apology, Elizabeth nodded. "That's right. You do."

"Then we have an accord?" Barbossa asked. He and Sao Feng shook hands on it to seal the deal.

"Agreed."

True to his word, Sao Feng released them, and the crew split up to arrange their escape. They were to use the Pearl's canons to break free from the Endeavour. With the help of the Chinese crew, it was easy to arrange.

Elizabeth was brought onto Sao Feng's ship the Empress, and they sailed the moment they could, leaving the Black Pearl and the Endeavour behind. She watched the Pearl break free and leave the Endeavor behind soon after.

-

"This way, if you please," a man from the Chinese crew gestured for Elizabeth to follow. She was lead to the Captain's cabin where she was to wait. Three Chinese maidens attended to her with food, water and a change of clothes. Elizabeth certainly didn't mind, but there was an underlying tension in the room that prevented her from relaxing.

Then, Sao Feng entered the room. The maidens stopped and bowed their heads in respect. "Leave us," he commanded them, and they scurried out of the cabin without a word.

Without trying to conceal his admiration, Sao Feng stared at Elizabeth in her traditional Chinese gown. He walked further into the room, and spoke, "Young willow shoots. Touching, brushing, the water. Of the garden pool." It sounded like a poem.

"I admit," Elizabeth mumbled when he silenced down and looked at her again. "This was not how I expected to be treated." She looked down at her new set of clothes.

Sao Feng nodded gracefully. "No other treatment would be worthy of you..." he drew closer and said in a hushed voice, "Calypso."

Elizabeth stopped and looked at him. Did he think she was Calypso? Elizabeth knew little of Calypso other than that she was a goddess of the sea. Had that been the reason he had wanted her in exchange for helping the Pearl? "Excuse me?" She asked.

"Not the name you fancy," Sao Feng stepped back. "But it is what we call you." He circled her slowly, and she watched him wearily. "We of the Brethren Court and our predecessors, who concealed you in this form," Sao Feng explained as he walked around her. "The Brethren bound you to this form so that they would be the ones controlling the seas..."

Elizabeth played along. "And not me."

"One such as you should never be anything less than what you are." He looked at her and noted her hesitation and her caution. "Can I be blamed for my efforts? All men are drawn to the sea. Perilous as it may be. I offer you my desire."

He closed up on her with swiftness and Elizabeth moved away, ducking in behind a wooden pillar.

"Pretty words, but such an item is of such small value," she said. "And in return?"

Sao Feng rounded the pillar. "I would have your gifts, should you choose to give them."

"And if choose not?"

Sao Feng closed in on her again. "Then I will take your fury." He stepped forward to grab her but stopped when a distant explosion sounded.

 A sudden crash made both Elizabeth and her captor look up. Elizabeth screamed as a lead ball slammed into the hull and created a hole in the wall beside her.

When she looked out of the porthole, she could make out that they were under attack by another ship. It was not the Endeavour but a more rugged ship with rotten sails. A second ball crashed through the hull. Elizabeth looked around and found her captor lying in a heap on the deck, bloodied and impaled by a shard of wood.

She warily approached him. "Sao Feng?" 

He trembled but seemed to still be alive, although weak and dying. His pain was obvious, and he couldn't have more than minutes left. 

"Here, please." He beckoned her closer, and she tiptoed over to him. He grabbed the thin rope around his neck and removed it. A small pendant was attached to it. "Here." He handed it to Elizabeth. "The Captain's knot, take it." He pressed the pendant into her hand. "So that you'll be free! Take it, I pass it on to the next Brethren Lord."

"Me?" Elizabeth looked baffled.

"Go to Shipwreck Cove in my place. You are Captain now," Sao Feng wheezed and then became limp where he lied.

A man from his crew entered the cabin and came to a stop when he saw Sao Feng. He removed his hat in respect. "What did he tell you?" He asked Elizabeth who sat leaned over the dead man.

She showed him the pendant. "He made me Captain." She put the pendant around her neck.

"We've been overtaken, C-Captain," the man explained. "We can't-"

"What's your name, sailor?" Elizabeth interrupted him.

The man placed his hat back on his head. "Tai Huang, Captain."

Elizabeth stood up. "Tai Huang, tell the men to surrender."

Elizabeth got up and made her way out to the deck. Outside  _her_  crew was surrounded by monstrous creatures that bore the resemblance to a crew. The crew of the Flying Dutchman.

Ordering her crew to surrender, with some translation of Tai Heung, they stood down as they were boarded by the Dutchman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody likes filler-chapters... but there had to be one... sorry!


	11. Picking Sides

Among those who boarded the Empress were several men from the Navy. Surprised but not shocked, Elizabeth watched as they shoved the crew into the middle of the deck and pointed their rifles at them.

Then, walking across the board and onto the Empress was a familiar face Elizabeth never thought she'd see; James Norrington stepped onto the bridge of the Empress, dressed in a grand uniform with a white wig and a black hat on his head. He surveyed the damage and the captured crew before his eyes fell on Elizabeth.

"James?" She called out to him.

"Elizabeth!" James hurried down the stairs to embrace her. She didn't make a move to return the hug. "I heard you were dead!"

"And we mourned you," Elizabeth frowned.

James straightened up and adjusted his coat as he cleared his throat. "Your sister will be overjoyed to know that you are alive." He smiled.

Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she grabbed him by his arms. "You've seen Victoria?" She asked. "Where is she? Is she all right?"

With a gentle smile, James glanced back at the Flying Dutchman. "I'm afraid I can't go anywhere without her following me."

Davy Jones himself stepped past James. "Enough with the pleasantries," he grunted. "Who here do you name as Captain?" he asked, and the man who'd followed Elizabeth out of the Captain's cabin pointed at her.

James quickly ordered the Dutchman's crew, "Tow the ship, take the sailors to the brig. The Captain comes with me."

"You heard the Admiral," Jones barked. Prompting his crew to obey the command.

They boarded to Dutchman and James lead Elizabeth to his quarters. He didn't say anything on the way there or when he opened the door to the large cabin.

Within, on a chair in the corner, sat Victoria with a book in her hands. She looked peaceful and hummed silently. She was dressed in a navy blue blouse and a long skirt with yellow details embroidered into the hem. 

It was such a shock to see her, at first and Elizabeth hardly knew what to say or do. She had so many questions. How had Victoria come to serve on the Dutchman? Why did she seem so calm? Had the news of their father's passing not reached her? Victoria hadn't noticed her or James but would soon realize their presence.

Elizabeth pushed past James, stepping into the room. "Victoria?"

Victoria looked up and dropped her book at the sight of her sister. "Elizabeth!" She jumped up and embraced her sister. "Oh, you're alive! You're alive and well!"

Elizabeth frantically searched her sister for injuries or wounds but found nothing. "Are you all right, Victoria? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Elizabeth," the older sister chuckled. "Don't worry about me. Father worries enough as it is."

Elizabeth's heart dropped. Her sister didn't know about their Father. Elizabeth dreaded her next words. "Victoria...  Father is dead," she said.

"What?" James stepped into the room. "That can't be. Weatherby Swann has returned to England."

"Who told you that? Lord Beckett?" Elizabeth's expression was grave, and James slowly realized what she meant. 

Victoria seemed to not understand, or want to understand. She looked up at James. "Y-Yes. Father was to return to England and... o-oh God..." She fell back down into the chair, defeat evident in her eyes as she came to term with the lie she'd been told. She swatted away both James and Elizabeth as they moved to console her. "Don't, please."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I hear the crew outside getting riled up. Would you take me back to my crew?" She asked James, and he seemed very reluctant to do so.

"Wouldn't you rather stay with your sister?"

"I need to be with my crew. Victoria, you do understand..."

"I do," Victoria nodded. "Do as she says, James."

The Admiral nodded and lead Elizabeth out of the cabin. Victoria sat on the edge of the bed. Ever since she'd left Port Royal with James, much to her Father's displeasure, she'd believed that he'd been sent back to England. Cutler had told her so himself. How naive she'd been to believe the lie and how utterly stupid she felt for taking so long to figure it out.

She felt betrayed and angry. And she didn't want to stay another minute on the ship.

Elizabeth watched James leave after he'd locked her in the brig with the rest of the crew. How could he have gone back to the navy and how very dared he to bring her sister along?

She looked around at the Dutchman's crew that walked by the cell she was in. "Bootstrap?" She asked a passing crewman. He laughed when he heard what she'd said and kept walking. "Bill Turner?" Elizabeth called.

"You know my name." A voice grunted from behind her. In the hull, eyes opened and revealed a man sitting among the barnacles and growth. He emerged from the hull with a confused frown. "You know my name."

"Yes," Elizabeth knelt beside him. "I know your son. Will Turner." She put her hand over his, and he looked at it with a puzzled expression before lighting up into a smile

"William!" Bill perked up. "He made it! He's alive. Hah! And now he's sent you to tell me that he's coming to get me. He promised. He's on his way." Bill rambled but seemed to stop himself. His eyes were clouded with confusion and his mouth slightly ajar as he thought.

His happy expression quickly faded into a thoughtful frown, that turned into a serious scowl. 

Elizabeth scooted closer. "Will is alive," she confirmed. "He wants to help you."

Bill turned sharply to look at her. Suddenly he looked hopeless, and there was nothing but despair in his eyes. "No, he can't come. He won't," he said. "I know you, he spoke of you. You're Elizabeth."

"Yes, that's me," Elizabeth nodded.

"He can't save me," Bill shook his head. "He can't come. Won't come."

"I don't know how, but he will try, I am sure." Elizabeth squeezed his hand, trying to gain his full attention. "You're... his father."

With a studying look, Bootstrap turned back to the young woman. "If Jones be slain... he who slays him takes his place. Captain. Forever," he rambled again. "Every man before the mast knows that, Elizabeth! The Dutchman must have a Captain."

"I-I see-" Elizabeth was frightened by the frantic man before her. He seemed not all there and the way his eyes darted around without focusing made it clear that at least part of his was insane. 

"If he saves me... he loses you," Bill told her and Elizabeth managed to nod. "He won't pick me... I wouldn't pick me. The Dutchman must have a captain," he repeated.

"You said that," murmured but Bill didn't listen any longer.

He leaned back and glared at Elizabeth. "Tell him not to come! To stay away! It's too late. I'm part of the ship. The crew." He closed his eyes and Elizabeth let his hand go, standing back up. "Part of the ship, part of the crew," Bill sighed.

Elizabeth backed away as he seemed to blend back into the hull and become one with it.

She turned back to her crew. They were silent, but most of them seemed brave still. A few were even eying the lock on the cell door to see if it was possible to pick. Elizabeth had been given command over a whole crew, and not even minutes after that they'd been boarded and captured. Part of her felt disappointed, and another part felt as if she had to step up. She was a Captain now but who knew what the Navy had planned for her and her crew. Since her presence had been a surprise to James, the Navy should still be unknowing. But then again, James didn't know about her father's death, so what else did he not know.

And Victoria... Why in the world was Victoria on the Dutchman? Was she there against her will? It didn't look like it when Elizabeth had seen her. She looked almost comfortable and pleased. Elizabeth couldn't help but feel angry with her sister.

-

"You escaped the brig even quicker than I expected," Jack leaned casually on the rail of the forecastle. William stood below him in the dark of the night, tying a body of a deceased crewman to a barrel. He had stopped when he heard Jack and whirled around to look at him.

"Hold on, William." Jack was smug. "Do you notice anything? Or, rather, do you not notice anything?" He asked. "Or, rather, do you notice something that is not there to be noticed?"

William hesitated for a moment. "You haven't raised the alarm."

With a smile, Jack dropped down to the forecastle and looked at the body stapped tightly to the empty barrel. "That's odd, isn't' it? But not so odd as this," he gestured at William's handiwork. "You came up with this all on your lonesome?"

Will crossed his arms over his chest, aggravated and on the defense. "I said to myself, think like Jack."

"And is this what you arrived at?" Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "Lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove so as to win his trust and accomplish your own ends? It's like you don't know me at all." He pouted his lips and shook his head.

"Think like Jack, but do what's right," Will shrugged.

Jack grinned and ran his fingers over his beard. "And how does your dearly beloved feel about your plan?" He asked, but Will didn't answer. He continued his work. "Ah," Jack nodded. "You've not seen fit to trust her with it."

Will tightened the rope further and gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm losing her, Jack," he said. "Every step I make for my father is a step away from Elizabeth." he turned to face Jack and shrugged hopelessly. He looked defeated as if he was torn between the choice of his father or his bride.

"If you choose to lock your heart away, you will lose her for certain. But if I might offer an exceedingly simple solution." Jack looked to have the perfect answer. "Don't save your father."

It wasn't that easy for Will. He'd sailed across the sea to find his father. And now that he'd found him enslaved his heart told him that he had to help him. "I have to," Will insisted. "I can't turn my back on him."

" _Can't_  is a matter of fact," Jack shrugged. "You can if you want, but you won't... and that makes it a choice." Will couldn't disagree with that. "That's what life is, boyo... choices. Out of all the things you can so, what will you do?"

Will shook his head, unable to answer.

"If I might lend a machete to your intellectual thicket... Avoid the choice altogether. Change the facts. Let someone else dispatch Jones."

"Who?" asked Will. "You?" he gave Jack a quizzical look.

Jack seemed pleased with himself. "Death had a way of reshuffling one's priorities. I slip aboard the Dutchman, I find the heart and stab the beating thing. Your father goes free from his debt, and you are free to be with you charming murderess."

"And you'll bind yourself to the Dutchman forever," William mumbled.

"No," Jack shook his head. "I am free forever. Free to sail the seas, beyond the edges of the map, free from death itself." He smiled. "Crew aboard the Dutchman is one thing, but Captain? Sign me up."

William gave a grim laugh. Jack wouldn't be up to the task, he knew that much. "You have to do the job. You have to ferry souls to the next world or end up just like Jones," he pointed out.

Jack took a moment to consider what it would be like before he shuddered. "I don't have the face for tentacles," he frowned. "Then I'll take on the obligation and not quite be completely free... but immortal has to count for something. Now, here." 

He handed Will his compass. Will looked at it with a bewildered expression. "What's this for?"

"Think like me. It'll come to you."

Just a moment too late, William realized what was going to happen. Jack shoved him backward, and Will fell overboard into the dark water. A moment later the barrel with the body splashes down beside him just barely missing him. 

Jack leaned out over the railing of the Pearl. "Give my regards to Davy Jones." He smiled widely and then disappeared, leaving William clinging to the floating barrel as the Pearl left him behind.

-

"Lizzie," a whisper came from the door to the cell. It was Victoria and right behind her James.

Though upset with her sister, Elizabeth hurried over to the cell door to meet her. "What are you doing down here?" She hissed.

"I'm getting out of here. I imagine you'd be eager to come with," Victoria smiled and looked at Elizabeth's crew. "We've got to go now, and we can't be seen. Tell them to be silent."

"We understand you well, ma'am."

James unlocked the door. "What are  _you_  doing here?" Elizabeth asked him as he let the crew out of the cell.

"Following my heart," he opened the door, and Victoria gestured for Elizabeth and the Chinese crew to follow.

They moved to the rear of the Dutchman. Thick ropes ran between the Flying Dutchman and the Empress, towing her along. Elizabeth's crew wasted no time in climbing the ropes and crawl across to their ship.

"Quickly," James instructed them.

Victoria pulled her sister to the side. "You can't go to Shipwreck Cove. Cutler knows about it, and we believe there's a traitor among the pirates. Someone's tipped them off," she whispered. 

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows. "How could you go with James to serve like this? Aboard the Dutchman?" She asked. "He's the traitor here."

Victoria shook her head. Elizabeth had misunderstood, but the time for explanations wasn't there and then. "There's so much I have to tell you, Elizabeth, but not here. We don't have time. Let's get to safety before we fight, please."

Listening to her sister, Elizabeth climbed the towing rope and followed her crew. Alarmed shouts echoed from the deck, and she looked back. They'd been discovered.

James pushed Victoria towards the rope. "Go!" He told her, moving to lift her up to grab the rope.

"Not without you, not this time." Victoria shook her head. She ripped at her skirt, tearing it and revealed a set of pants underneath. She tossed her skirt over the railing. A figure shuffled towards them in the dark, Bootstrap Bill from the brig. He spotted Victoria and James, and in turn the escaping crew. He grabbed a pike from the side of the ship.

"No one leaves the ship," he said, threateningly raising the pike. He looked confused but clear enough to be dangerous.

James drew his sword and pointed it at the crewman. "Stand down. That's an order." 

Victoria, who had a sword of her own, drew hers too. She still couldn't wield it properly, but James had insisted she carried one. It did feel better to have it.

Bootstrap hesitated before he started chanting, "Part of the ship, part of the crew." He spoke louder and louder until he was shouting. It seemed he tried to convince himself of the situation and his role. "All hands! Prisoner escape!"

The sound of running footsteps that approach sounded. "James," Victoria grabbed him by the arm. "We leave, now or not at all." 

James hesitated but nodded and looked to see where the crew, and Elizabeth, were. They were almost at the Empress.

Victoria turned back to see Bootstrap walk towards them with his weapon raised and it was more instinct than choice that made her step in front of James when Bootstrap attacked. Didn't think or speak a word, it was all automatic. The edge of the pike sank into her stomach, and her breath got caught in her throat. Before her, Bootstrap seemed stunned by his actions and took a few staggering steps back.

Victoria looked down at her wound and felt her balance shift. She meant to lean back but found herself falling. She grabbed hold of James' coat to steady herself.

He spun around and saw her. "No!" he cried, grabbing her as she fell into him. "Victoria, no!" His shouts clawed their way up his throat as he yelled. 

Elizabeth looked back from where she crawled across the towing rope. She sensed trouble and began to climb back. "Victoria!" She shouted.

"G-Get me off the ship, James," Victoria wheezed. "I don't want to die here."

James stared at her and the towing ropes above. He drew his gun and fired at the rope, severing it. Those still climbing the rope, among them Elizabeth fell into the water below. "You're not dying, not on my watch," James promised the wounded woman.

"Anywhere but here, James." Victoria looked at the railing.

James knew what she meant. She wanted nothing but to get off the ship, whether or not she should live to see it. He quickly sheathed his sword. Victoria's sword laid discarded on the ground and slid through the railing and into the sea. "I've got you, don't give up."

Victoria clung to his coat as he picked her up and climbed the railing. He spotted the crew approach and looked down at the water. It looked like a black abyss. "Don't let go," he told Victoria and jumped off the Dutchman.

The ocean swallowed them both. James got himself and Victoria back to the surface. She coughed, and he struggled to keep her afloat. She wasn't doing much to keep herself above water, and that was not a good sign. "The ship's not far, Victoria. Hold on a moment longer," James pleaded her. "Help!"

Victoria nodded. The water around them was cold, but James' hands were warm. When they got to the ship there were more warm hands, and before she knew it, she laid on the deck of the Empress, staring up at concerned faces and behind those; the starry sky.

"Victoria, God!" Elizabeth knelt by her sister's side. "Not you, not now. Not when we've just found you."

Victoria trembled from the cold. "Did everyone make it?" She asked. "James?"

"I'm right here," James moved into view. "And completely fine," he assured her.

With a smile, Victoria told him, "Good," before closing her eyes and losing consciousness.

Elizabeth froze where she knelt for a moment before grabbing her sister by her shoulders. "Victoria! Victoria, talk to me!" She shook Victoria. James pulled her off of the unconscious woman. "James!" Elizabeth shoved him away. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Saving her life," he roared back, yanking his coat off and pressing his hand against Victoria's wound. His wig and hat were gone, and his brown hair laid plastered against this forehead. Out of the two of them, he seemed the most distressed. Elizabeth calmed herself enough to wonder why. "It's a shallow wound, not as bad as I thought. If we make it to a port without it getting infected she'll no doubt make it." James looked up at the closest crewman. "You, I need clean cloth right away."

The crewman remained still and looked at Elizabeth. "Oh, for God's sake do as he says!" She yelled, and the man rushed off. "Thank you for this," she told James.

His eyes were dark when he looked at her, but there was a hint of compassion as well. "I am not doing this for you, I'm doing this for her. I've lost her once, and I'm not losing her again." He averted his eyes and then looked back down at Victoria. "Your feelings for me are obvious, let me make mine clear."

"James..."

"She is the one comfort I've had. The only one who's always been glad to see me, even if we're not on good terms or we are on opposing sides. I've picked my side, and it's right next to her."

Supplies were brought out, and James tended to Victoria's wound. She regained consciousness when he picked her back up, but just barely. "W-Where am I?" she asked.

Elizabeth was standing next to James to talk to Victoria. "You're safe, Vickie. We're going to take care of you," she promised. Victoria nodded. "Rest, and recover."

"I've got you, love. Let's get you into the warmth." James carried her into the Captain's cabin without hesitation and laid her on the bed. "Rest," he smiled gently at her and ran his hand over her forehead. She had no fever but was not cool to the touch, which relieved him of much worry.

Victoria smiled up at him. "I need... I need to talk to my sister."

James furrowed his eyebrows but got up and allowed Elizabeth to take his place. "I shall go and make sure we're not pursued." He stepped out and closed the doors behind him.

Elizabeth took her sister's hand. "Oh, Vickie. I did not mean to fight you earlier. Please forgive me."

"Elizabeth, I have so much to tell you, and you no doubt have some explaining to do."

"You need the rest," Elizabeth shook her head.

Victoria insisted on hearing what her sister had to say. "I won't rest until you've told me everything that has happened. I deserve to know!"

"Don't I deserve to know what happened to you after you left us? Victoria, last I saw you, you were heading home, and now you're on the Flying Dutchman with James Norrington! I thought he was dead and I feared the worst when I heard about our father."

With a cold glare, Victoria rose her chin in a defiant expression. "I came here with nothing, Elizabeth. Yet I managed to lose everything," she hissed. Elizabeth's glare softened. "I had nothing to lose while you could lose everything you had. That adventure came and went. You got your William, and  _I_  lost."

"Victoria..."

"Elizabeth, I understand that you might not know what's going on. Have you ever stopped to think that this might be bigger than all of us? What has been happening has not only had devastating effects on our jolly gang of friends and us," Victoria shook her head. "The entire world feels this."

Elizabeth frowned. "It still doesn't explain what  _we_  have been through," she pointed to herself and her older sister. "Right now, I care for us. Right here, right now. No one else matters."

Victoria shook her head. She looked heartbroken. "Dear Elizabeth, it's time we think of more people than ourselves."

Silence fell over the two sisters. They said nothing for a while, and neither of them looked at the other. Both sisters were deep in their own thoughts until Elizabeth spoke up again. "James is quite worried about you. I've never seen him so concerned, nor so frantic as he was just now."

Victoria smiled weakly. "Yes, I suppose so. Love does that... I love him."

"You do?" Elizabeth seemed surprised. 

"When I returned to Port Royal so did he. Miraculously, we both got back," Victoria smiled. "I've never been so happy in my life to see someone." She let out a sigh and leaned back against the mattress as she thought back. "Elizabeth," she suddenly looked serious. "James and I got married, in Port Royal."

Elizabeth was stunned. "Married?" She asked. "You?"

Victoria glowered. "Yes, me," she snapped. "Is that such a shock?"

"Forgive me, but I just didn't expect..." Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand. "I just... James?" she sounded doubtful. "Why?"

"We'd both lost one another once and thought we should take the opportunity unless it slipped out of our grasp again." Victoria shrugged. "If I've learned something since I came here it's to take whatever opportunity of happiness you can. I respect him, and he respects me. We're loyal to one another, and a woman can't ask for much more in a man. I didn't think I could grow to love a man like James, but I have. I go with him because if I am to lose him, I want to try and prevent it if I can." She laughed tiredly. "And look at me, I might have done it now... but I'm afraid that in the end, we'll lose this too."

Elizabeth brushed some hair out of her face. "No. Not always, Vickie," she mumbled. "Some things can be brought back." She looked her sister in the eyes. "Jack is alive."

Victoria sat up and pain jolted through her body. "What?" she coughed as she laid back down. "When? How?"

"I'll tell you after you've rested. I've taken enough of your time. You need a couple of hours of peace and quiet." Elizabeth rose and tucked her sister into the bed. "Rest easy now. We have a long way to go."

Elizabeth left her sister to rest and headed up to the brig. James stood silently and watched for any sign of the Dutchman, but there was nothing in sight. "Is she resting?" He asked when he noticed that Elizabeth had come. 

"Yes." Elizabeth put her hands behind her back. "Reluctantly so."

"Much like her," James mumbled.

There was tension between them, and James stood straight and stiff by the railing. Elizabeth wondered if she should say something or remain silent. "Congratulations," she got out despite trying to hold it in. "I hope you're happy together."

James turned to her. "She's told you, then?"

"Sisters tell each other such things," Elizabeth shrugged. 

For a moment it looked as if James was not about to answer but eventually, he nodded. "Thank you, we are very happy." He smiled to himself but hid his smile when he turned to Elizabeth. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to see my wife." 

Elizabeth stepped out of his way and took his spot. Tai Huang approached her. "Where to, Captain?"

"Take us to Shipwreck Cove."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fixed the biggest mistake the movies made: Killing James Norrington.


	12. Twisted Sisters

"Look alive and keep a careful eye! Not for nothing it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove and Shipwreck City!" Shouted Gibbs.

"You know," Jack told him. "for all that pirates are clever clogs capable of the most underhanded and duplicitous thinking... we are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things."

Gibbs agreed. "Step out, Mr. Cotton," Jack said and took to the rudder. "There are some dangerous tides ahead that will prove a trick to navigate."

They sailed straight towards the cliffs and for a moment it looked as if they would run aground and crash into the cliff wall, but when they got closer it revealed that there was a huge seat tunnel that lead into the cliffs. The Pearl sailed through without trouble with Jack at the wheel.

"Deep enough for the ship's draw. I would have never believed it," Gibbs sounded impressed.

"If you only knew how many died making it deep enough, you'd believe."

A light shone at the end of the tunnel and as the ship passed through they got their first glimpse of Shipwreck Cove and its city. Shipwreck city looked not so much like a city but an impressive heap of wrecked ship stacked into a mountain that somehow functioned as a city. It was beautiful, majestic, and terrifying at the same time. At first look, it looked little more than a pile of rubble but it was soon clear that the construction was built to last.

The city harbored many vessels other than the pearl. Everything from Grand cruisers to small attack ships from all over the world. Jack smiled, he could stare himself blind but had more important things to do.

With Elizabeth gone they were yet another man down. Jack wasn't sure if he felt safer without the younger Swann sister around or not. He sure missed the older one, at least. He could do with some testy comments or flirty jokes. 

The Black Pearl docked in the harbor of Shipwreck Cove. "I want at least half of you sods to stay on the Pearl at all times!" Barbossa barked orders. "Don't forget where we are, or who we are." He glared at at the crew. "Those who aren't on the ship are to restock the supplies."

Jack wasn't paying attention. He thought of those who were not with them on the ship. Elizabeth who was aboard the Empress, captive of Sao Feng. William, who he'd dropped into the ocean. And Victoria, who he wasn't sure where she was or if she was at all. If Governor Swann was dead then chances of her being alive were very slim. It bothered him but he had no time to let his mind loiter on the thought.

Ever since he'd left the locker, he'd had little on his mind besides her. Whenever he was alone, whenever his surroundings were silent enough to make his thoughts wander, they wandered to her. Victoria with the soft lips and a wicked smile. He missed her sly remarks and wild protests. He'd been told that she'd returned to Port Royal, but he wondered what had lied in store for her upon her return. Would she be treated the same kindness her sister had been? She couldn't have been dead since there'd been no sign of her in the locker but that didn't mean she wasn't imprisoned under Fort Charles. Cutler Beckett hadn't hesitated to cage Elizabeth, why would Victoria be any different?

Jack cursed silently to himself. Of course, it was different. What was the thing that vexed all men? The one thing that could make a man weak? If the Lord had ever loved Victoria then he wouldn't hurt a hair on her head. The love of a woman could ruin the most powerful man.

Victoria Swann had several men wrapped around her fingers. Jack cursing himself for being one of them. Part of him wanted to forget about her and run away, while another pleaded for him to try and catch her again. He wanted to hold her again. Kiss her one more time. Once hadn't been enough by far. Perhaps he should go to Port Royal and find her?

Jack noticed an approaching figure and quickly left the thought.

"Jack," Barbossa approached him. His eyes were wide and a grin was stretched across his face. He looked sly like he had something special planned and if Jack knew him, and he did, Barbossa had a trick up his sleeve. "Let's go and say hello, to the Court."

"Aye," Jack nodded and followed his fellow Captain off the Peal. Whatever awaited then there was yet to be seen, but the sea would not be the same once the meeting of the Court had taken place.

-

"Stay here," ordered Lord Beckett as he and his men boarded the Flying Dutchman with haste. In the front was the cavalry, armed with rifles and muskets, was Admiral Norrington who lead the charge, walking with determined steps along with his men to secure the deck of the Dutchman. 

Victoria glared at the men that left her behind, and she hurried after them despite both the Lord and her father telling her not to interfere. She rushed after her father as he followed Cutler onto the Dutchman.

Two men carried the chest containing Davy Jones' heart and Victoria stopped when she saw the Dutchman's crew surrounded by the armed marines. Davy Jones himself emerged from his cabin with anger and confusion written all over his face. He glared at the chest but kept his distance, reluctant to be near it.

"Go, you lot!" He growled. "And take that thing with you! I will not have that infernal thing on my ship!"

Lord Beckett stepped forward. Behind him stood Mercer, and Governor Swann. Victoria lingered in the shadows. "I'm sorry to hear that," Beckett said, loud and clear for Jones and his men to hear. "Because I will. Because it seems to be the only way to ensure this ship do as directed by the Company." He nodded at his Admiral and James continued with the chest into the Captain's cabin.

Victoria frowned, disliking not having her husband within view, but she remained hidden.

Jones scowled at Cutler. "The Dutchman sails as it's Captain commands-"

"And the Captain," Lord Beckett interrupted, "is to sail it as commanded." He took another step forward. "This is no longer your world, Jones. I thought you'd learned that when I ordered you to kill your pet."

Weatherby pushed forward. "Did you give those ships opportunity to surrender?"

Jones shrugged, looking around at his crew before turning back to the Governor. "We let them see us. Methinks that opportunity enough."

Weatherby gasped. "My daughter could have been aboard one of them! That alone is cause to exercise restraint!"

Beckett held up a hand to stop the Governor. "We need prisoners to interrogate," he told Jones. "Which works best when they are alive."

"I am exterminating pirates. As commanded by the Company." Jones snorted and looked to the Governor with a sly glare. "And your daughter is dead," he spat. "I myself should know."

Victoria gasped and her father seemed taken aback. Elizabeth dead? It couldn't be. They'd left the Pearl together. Elizabeth had to be alive. Weatherby rushed off into the Captain's cabin and Victoria rushed after him. All eyes turned to her as she ran by but no one seemed composed enough to hinder her.

However, she was promptly stopped by Mercer, who grabbed her by the arm when she ran past him. "Let me go!" She shouted. "Let me go!" She tried to wiggle out of his grip. 

"A woman on the ship! Absurd!" Jones spat. He eyes the young woman with a grimace. Her long hair whipped around her like waves and her fingers curled like claws.

"My sister can't be dead!" Victoria glared up at Jones while Mercer restrained her, locking her arms behind her back. "You're wrong!" She kicked and thrashed and Jones roared with laughter. "I'll kill you!" Victoria cried.

Jones stepped up to her and bent down to look her in the eyes. "Your sister is dead. Pulled under with the Black Pearl - by my pet." He grinned and pulled away when the woman tried to headbutt him.

"Hah," Victoria laughed. "You bloody fool, Elizabeth's not dead! I was on the Pearl when your overgrown squid attacked! We both left the ship before it went under," she said.

Davy Jones sneered at her, anger flashing in his eyes. "Why you little," he drew his sword and aimed it at Victoria's throat. 

"Settle down, Jones," Cutler Beckett shook his head. "Remember who is in charge."  Reluctantly, Jones sheathed his sword. "Let her go, Mercer."

The moment Victoia was released she straightened up. "You'll pay for what you've done to Jack," she said and spat at Jones' feet before storming after her father. When she entered the cabin her father and her husband wrestled over the chest, a blade in Weatherby's hand as he threatened to stab the pulsing heart while James tried to stop him. "Father, stop!" Victoria cried, running to try and intervene.

"Victoria! I told you to stay back!" James hissed. He glared at her but quickly put his focus back on his father-in-law. "Governor Swann, please!" He pleaded as he tried to overpower the man that threatened to sink a blade into the heart of Davy Jones.

"Elizabeth is dead!" cried Weatherby, staring down into the open chest at the heart.

"She's not dead, father! Jones is lying." Victoria shook her head. Admiral Norrington still had a firm grip on the Governor's hand. "Don't do this. You don't know what it means." Victoria moved between her father and the chest. Protecting the fragile organ with her lean frame. "I can't let you do it."

Weatherby glared at his daughter. "Move out of the way, Victoria. That's an order."

"No." Victoria stood fast.

"Oh, let him go." Jones appeared in the doorway with a grim expression. "Let him do it if he's willing to take my place." He grinned, then looked at the Governor. "The crew is not bound to me, they are bound to the Dutchman... and the Dutchman must have a Captain. Will you serve?"

Beckett marched into the room followed by Mercer. Cutler did not look very pleased and Victoria turned back to her father. "Elizabeth is alive. Jones is a liar and a snake. Neither Elizabeth nor I were on the Black Pearl when it sank. You know that."

"There's still hope," James pleaded with the Governor.

Weatherby frowned and stopped his struggle. James slowly released his grip on the Governor. With a huff and a glare, Weatherby dropped the blade into James' hand. He walked towards the door. "Our association is ended," he growled as he passed Beckett. Victoria gave her husband a concerned look but he gave her an assuring nod to make sure she knew he was all right.

"Please, escort the Governor back to the Endeavour," Beckett ordered his Admiral. James looked at his wife for a short moment before he nodded and followed orders, quickly marching after the Governor and leaving the Captain's quarters. 

Victoria remained where she was, in front of the open chest. She looked inside. The heart beat in a steady rhythm without indication that it would stop. The blade her father had threatened it with laid discarded on the floor, she slowly bent down to pick it up, weighing it in her hand as she straightened before the open chest. She looked back up at Jones. He looked right back at her with mistrust. Though her father might not have had the guts to serve, Victoria sure did. 

"You are dismissed, Captain," Beckett told Jones, that left the cabin with stomping steps. 

"He's a sly one, that Jones..." Mercer muttered once the Captain was out. "Who's going to kill him, if they become him?"

Lord Beckett watched the woman before the chest. He slowly approached the chest and Victoria. He cleared his throat and held his hand out. Victoria hesitated before she handed over the weapon but she remained where she was, with one hand on the chest.

 "Mrs. Norrington," Cutler said with a bittersweet smile, "Although your assistance was appreciated you were ordered to stay off the Dutchman. Return to the Endeavor, please."

Victoria hesitated, glancing at the heart one more time. "What are you going to do now?"

"I have little choice but to send your father away." Beckett walked closer, with his hands on his back. "I'll have him sent back to England, where he would not be able to intervene more."

"And my husband?"

"He will be in charge here."

Victoria nodded. "Very well, then I shall go with him. If Admiral Norrington stays on the Dutchman, then so will I." Cutler seemed even more displeased then before. "Excuse me, I should prepare myself and say goodbye to my father. He'll no doubt have much to protest about." Victoria walked towards the door.

"Yes," Lord Beckett mumbled. "So it would seem."

The young woman exited the quarters and disappeared from view. Cutler Beckett sighed. "I'd hoped it would not come to this..." he pinched the bridge of his nose and approached the chest. He inspected the heart for a moment before he closed the chest. "Once the Admiral and his wife are aboard the Dutchman and we've departed..." he turned to his right-hand-man, "Guarantee Governor Swann's silence."

-

Elizabeth frowned as Victoria told her what had happened in further detail. "Cutler told me, personally, that Father would be sent back to England. I trusted him, and all I was fed were lies." Victoria glared at the floor. "I should have known better..."

"It's not your fault," Elizabeth told her.

They were in the Captain's cabin of the Empress. Victoria had recovered well but not enough to be up and running. With much reluctance, she'd stayed put in the cabin. She'd only snuck out twice, which was considerably less than Elizabeth thought she would have.

"I'll kill him..." Victoria suddenly muttered. "I'll kill Beckett for what he did to Father, and Jones too if I get the chance."

"You don't know what you're saying," Elizabeth tried to calm her sister. "You don't know what it means to kill Davy Jones."

Victoria pushed her sister away. "I understand perfectly what it means. Kill him, and you take his place. It's simple."

"But I won't allow it." 

The two women turned to the voice coming from the doorway. James looked at his wife with sad eyes. "I won't allow it," he repeated. Victoria's cheeks turned red with shame and she quickly averted her eyes as her husband walked closer. "Listen to me, Victoria. You think you are fighting a losing battle. You might think that everything ends with a loss, but you are wrong." James grabbed her chin and made her face him. "I fought for you, even when I thought I'd lost you. I won't allow you to make those efforts be in vain."

Tears welled up in Victoria's eyes. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. 

James wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her. "Victoria, I want no heroics from you. If not for your own safety, then for my sanity," he said. "I didn't fight so hard to win your heart just to lose it to a chest."

"He's right, Victoria..." Elizabeth admitted with some reluctance. She looked at her sister and her brother-in-law before getting up. "I'll leave the two of you be." She quickly left the cabin to check on her crew.

Victoria wiped her tears away as James stroked his hand over her back. "I know you feel betrayed. You've got every right to be, dear," he murmured into her hair. "But don't throw your life away. Not like this. Not now that we're together."

"I want to protect you. I want to protect Elizabeth. You're all the family I've got."

"Then protect me by staying safe." James looked her in the eyes again. His expression was grave and his eyes stern. "You're not going into this without something to lose anymore. Think about that," he said. "I love you. Damned be the world if it takes you now." 

He kissed her gently. "I love you," Victoria sighed into the crook of his neck once their lips had parted. 

-

"We gather here to celebrate the marriage between Victoria Swann and Admiral James Norrington." The priest spoke loud and formally to the crowd gathered in the chapel. James beamed at his bride, joy overtaking him when he realized that they were mere moments away from being husband and wife. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed how his father-in-law was wiping tears from the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

Victoria looked up at him from beneath her veil and smiled. She looked breathtaking in her white gown, and James felt his chest puff up with pride. She was his, and he ever hers. The wedding was small and the number of guests was limited to close friends, a handful of soldiers under James' command and the nobles of Port Royal. Weatherby Swann's work, no doubt.

"Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust each other, who honor one another as individuals..." The priest spoke. "They pledge themselves to the other and we rejoice in the manner God has led them together and got them to the place they now stand."

Suddenly convinced that there might be a God somewhere up there, Victoria closed her eyes and sent a grateful prayed to whoever, or whatever listened. 

Her and James' engagement had been one for the record books. Barely a week had passed from their reunion when James had gotten on his knee and begged for her hand. There had been no hesitation and no doubt in her answer. Take what you can when you can because you might not get another chance. Victoria had learned that lesson the hard way, several times. The wedding was planned immediately and Weatherby Swann had been as shocked as he was overjoyed about the whole ordeal.

The priest turned to James with a gentle smile. The priest was an old man, with just a few patches of hair left on his head. "The woman who stands by your side is going to be your wife. She will look to you for comfort, for support, for understanding, for encouragement and protection. Will you have her?"

James smiled down at Victoria. "I will have her," he said.

"And you, Victoria," the priest looked at the bride to repeat the question to her. "The man who stands next to you is going to be your husband." Victoria glanced at James, that seemed to glow with joy. "He will look to you for comfort, for support, for understanding, for encouragement and protection." Victoria grinned at her soon-to-be husband. "Will you have him?"

"I will," Victoria nodded and James' smile grew impossibly wider.

The priest grabbed a gentle hold of Victoria's hand and placed it in James'. "In the presence of God, friends, and family, you will pledge yourself to one another. Please, your vows."

The bride and groom turned to face one another. "Ah," James nervously cleared his throat. Victoria smiled at him and glanced around in the chapel. Her father sat in the front row, now with tears running down his cheeks. Victoria smiled at him and was just about to turn back to her groom when her eyes fell on the man in the back of the chapel. 

On the pew in the far back sat Cutler Beckett, silently watching with an empty expression. A jolt of guilt struck her for a moment and she quickly looked back to James, who was about to speak his vows. "I offer you my hand, and my heart as I know it'll be safe with you. All that I am I give to you and all that I have I share with you. For better or worse, in sickness or health," James squeezed her hand in his, "to the end of my days."

"I-..." Victoria glanced at Cutler one more time before shaking away the dreadful feeling of guilt. 

"I take you, James Norrington, to be my husband and my better half. I will care for and cherish our love today, tomorrow, and forever. I will be faithful and honest with you, always. I take you for my husband, to have and to hold from this day on. For better or worse, in sickness or health, for all the days of my life until my last breath."

Victoria felt herself choking up as she spoke those last few words. She heard her father sniffle and James' looked overwhelmed with glee. She couldn't help but feel like she'd just made one of the best decisions in her life. She'd never seen a man so happy before.

"You have promised yourself to each other and declared your everlasting love by exchanging your vows." The priest held his hands out in a grand gesture. "Before God and this community of friends and family, I now pronounce you husband and wife." He turned to James and gestured towards Victoria. "You may kiss your bride."

With a relieved chuckle, Victoria reached forward and James gently lifted the veil from her face. He bent down and kissed her and applause sounded in the chapel. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Norrington," the priest said.

They left the chapel in a flurry of cheering guests and congratulations. Weatherby caught his daughter right outside the chapel and pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, dear! I thought the day would never come! My oldest daughter... married!" He wiped away new tears that had formed I his eyes. "This is positively the happiest I've ever been!"

Victoria chuckled and kissed her father's cheek. Her husband stepped up beside her and Weatherby Swann grabbed and shook his head, so frantically that James had to hold onto his hat for it not to fall off. "Oh, you wonderful man, thank you!" Weatherby cheered.

"Thank you, sir," James was uncertain of what else to say. "Your blessing means a lot to Victoria and me."

"Of course!" Weatherby nodded. "Blessing rain upon you, Admiral. Take good care of my daughter." James inclined his head and tipped his hat at his father-in-law.

Victoria turned to listen to the gratulations of one of the noble families. She politely bowed her head as they departed. She looked back up and met eyes with Cutler Beckett. Victoria stiffened as he approached, with Ian Mercer not far behind. Was he there to cause trouble?

Cutler said nothing when he walked up to her and stood before her a moment before he managed to force a smile. "Congratulations are in order, Mrs. Norrington. You must be very happy," he said. His voice was hollow as was the smile he wore.

"Thank you, my Lord. I am, indeed, very happy." Victoria curtsied and James turned around and noticed Lord Beckett. 

"My Lord," he, too, bowed his head to the Lord. 

"I'm here to offer my congratulations, Admiral. Though I must say, your... union was highly unexpected." Beckett said after shaking James' hand. "I was not aware that the two of you were anything but acquaintances."

James gave another beaming smile. "She's a lovely woman. And looking death in the eye does make you realize that you won't live forever." James wrapped his arm around his wife. "Better to take the shot and miss, than to wonder if you'd ever hit your goal."

Cutler pressed his lips into a tight line, obviously holding back a number of things he'd like to say. "Yes. Luckily, you didn't miss." He eyed the couple yet again, eyes lingering on Victoria. She averted her eyes. Cutler looked back at the Admiral. "I shall take my leave. I expect you to report back to me, at our appointed time and date."

"Yes, sir." James saluted him. "Thank you, sir."

Cutler forced another smile and turned to the bride. "Victoria," he bowed his head and offered her a very genuine but hurt smile, before turning on his heels and walking away. 

"Are you all right, dear?" James asked and Victoria looked up at him.

"Yes, I'm fine." She squeezed his arm and straightened where she stood, smiling up at her husband. "Say my name, James. Who am I?" She dared him.

Her husband grinned at her. "Why, you are Mrs. Victoria Norrington, dear."

"I am," Victoria said with a nod. "Mrs. Victoria Norrington."

-

Victoria shifted restlessly on the bed. The cabin on the Empress was dimly lit and she was constantly feeling drowsy. "Help me up," she pleaded her husband. "I want to get some fresh air."

James sighed at her unwillingness to stay in bed, but a loving smile ghosted over his lips. "At least you aren't sneaking out," he said and helped his wife stand. "Easy now, it'd be a shame for you to hurt yourself further."

They stepped out onto the deck just as they sailed through the Devil's Throat. Victoria and James watched how the walls of the cave closed in on them but never got close enough to hinder their passage. Victoria groaned as she walked towards the railing, with one hand on her husband's shoulder and the other grasping towards the railing. "Holy hell..." she mumbled as she looked down into the water. It was clear and it didn't look very deep. It was a miracle they made it through. 

Before them towered the city of shipwrecks. "I'll be damned..." James breathed. "How is that thing standing?"

"Amazing," Victoria's eyes sparkled in the dim lighting from the lanterns. "I'd very much like to see the Court of pirates," she said when she noticed her sister standing not too far away. "I have to see Jack with my own eyes. If he's alive."

"He's alive," Elizabeth nodded. "I know it."

They docked and got ready to leave the Empress. "I'm going with you," Victoria said.

"If she's going, I'm going," James said. He removed his black coat and put it over his wife's shoulders. He no longer wore his wig or uniform and stubble shaded his chin and cheeks.

Elizabeth put her own coat on. It was a traditional Chinese coat and she wore a hat with a similar pattern on it. "Yes. Inseparable you are," she muttered. "Can't imagine that bringing Beckett's Admiral will get me in trouble in the Brethren Court of  _pirates_."

"Tone it down, Lizzie," Victoria grumbled. "Do you have an issue with my husband?"

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth adjusted her coat. "Let's say I have some trouble trusting James."

"He's right here," Victoria growled, "and I would trust my life in his hands."

Elizabeth nodded. "I understand, but it doesn't mean I have to." She headed off the ship and Victoria huffed, sending soft glares at her sister's back. 

James steadied her as they made their way off the Empress. "It's all right, dear. I understand that she doesn't trust me. I would have difficulties trusting someone who keeps switching sides too," he assured his wife as he jumped off the ship and down to the docks. He turned around and grabbed his wife by the hips, lifting her off the boat. "I've got you," he cooed when she grunted in pain. "Are you sure that you don't want to stay on the Empress?"

"Positive," Victoria nodded with a pained smile. "Let's catch up with  _Captain Swann_ ," she rolled her eyes when she mentioned her sister's new title. "She might have a fancy title now but she's still my baby sister and I'll not have her talk the way she does to any of us."

"It's all right," James assured her. "Let's go with her for now."

Victoria nodded and together with her husband she followed her sister through the city of wrecked ships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a mess but yeah. Flashbacks left and right


	13. Like a Family Reunion

Jack lingered near the wall as he watched the room fill up with pirates. Everything from Pirate Lords to their first mates, and chosen members of their crew. Barbossa and Jack had brought their collective first mate, Gibbs, and Ragetti and Pintel. The dua was rarely split up. As the room became more and more crowded, Jack's anxiety grew. Not only did he owe all pirates present money, the future of their time at sea was to be decided in a very near future.

Besides worrying about whether or not he'd be able to sail freely, Jack had heard some frightening rumors about the Flying Dutchman annihilating pirate ships all over the seas. He prayed that his Victoria had stayed put in Port Royal but his gut told him otherwise. He chewed on his nails as he watched the Lords greet one another and complain about the one Captain that had not yet shown up; Sao Feng.

Suddenly, the doors to the room burst open and in stormed Elizabeth Swann. "Sao Feng is dead. I am to take his place as pirate Lord," she announced to answer everyone's questions.

Waves of protests sounded as she stepped into the room and drove her sword into the globe, housing all the blades of the Brethren. "Unacceptable! Unacceptable!" shouted a man, trying to make himself louder than the crowd and everyone else shouting.

Jack, however, had his eyes on something else. Limping through the door, supported by one James Norrington, was the woman he'd been thinking excessively on for the past days. The woman that vexed him to no end.

Victoria was dressed in a light, but disappointingly covering, cotton shirt with a black coat slung over her shoulders. The coat was obviously not hers since it was many sizes too big. It was also very obvious that she was injured or was recovering from an injury. The way she needed a shoulder to lean against and the way she covered her abdomen with her hand as she moved made it clear that she was in pain, but pulled through.

Victoria looked around in the room and when she spotted Jack her face split into a wide smile. She straightened and took a step forward, swatting Norrington away. " _Captain_ Jack Sparrow," Victoria said and saluted Jack. "Am I ever glad to see you up and about."

"Victoria Swann," Jack walked towards her to greet her and enveloped her in a gentle hug. It was just like he'd remembered it. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, relishing how her hair tickled his face and her smell overwhelmed him.

"It's Norrington now, mind you." Victoria patted his chest when he pulled away. "I've got the ball and chain with me," she nodded at her husband, who rolled his eyes but didn't entirely disagree with her. 

Jack furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and looked at James and Victoria. A pang of hurt and jealousy shot through him. Had he been gone so long? Was this a bad dream? Or had he fallen into yet another strange world? His Victoria had gone and married James Norrington while he'd been trapped in the Locker.

Husband and wife both smiled and Jack swore James' smile was downright smug. 

Still holding the woman in his arms, Jack frowned. "Married? To that sod?" he grunted.

Victoria slapped his chest again. She didn't look angry but there was a slight annoyance in her eye. "I had to do something when you went and walked off the earth." She smiled at him. The gentle curve of her lips made Jack feel better. She cared for him.

"And you choose to do him?" Jack nodded at James and watched his smile fade.

Victoria smiled, big and proud. "Indeed I did, Jack. And I certainly wouldn't mind doing him again," She winked and laughed but quickly stilled herself, bringing a hand to her stomach and grimacing in pain. "Oh God," she groaned.

James strode to her side and helped steady her. "Yes, dear, you've seen the Council and you've seen Sparrow, let's get you to a proper Doctor," James put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "As proper as you can in this place." He looked around in dismay. There were several eyes on them and he didn't want to stay or let his wife stay in the noisy room.

Jack pouted but stretched out his hand to the former Admiral. "Allow me to congratulate you, Norrington. Best of luck to you," he said. With great suspicion, James took Jack's hand and shook it. 

"Once I've got this looked over, expect me back," Victoria assured Jack. "Don't run off while I'm gone now."

"Mrs. Norrington," Jack bowed his head towards the woman.

Victoria beamed at him and then her husband. "I love hearing that," she cooed and walked out the door with James by her side. Jack frowned when she was gone.

Elizabeth was suddenly by his side. "I don't like it either. Norrington can't be trusted."

Jack pouted his lips and tilted his head to the side. "You don't trust your sister's judgment?" He asked.

"Not this time," Elizabeth shook her head. "He's switched sides one too many times."

There was a pause between the two. The room was still in uproar but Barbossa was working on calming things down, unsuccessfully. Jack eyed the newly appointed Captain Swann. Neither one of the sisters was who he'd known and it worried him.

A gunshot rang through the air and the soon silenced down. At the end of the long table stood Barbossa with his gun pointed up at the ceiling, it was still smoking and he looked pleased with the silence. "Settle down," he said and managed to be heard without yelling. "We've much to discuss."

-

"Are you all right, dear?" James worriedly eyed his wife. "You shouldn't have left the Empress, much less strained yourself all the way here," he scolded her. 

Victoria knew he was right, but seeing Jack had been worth it. "I'll manage for now," she said and looked up when she saw a vaguely familiar frame approach. "Tia Dalma," Victoria said, recognizing the woman who'd sent them after Davy Jones. "What are you doing here?"

Tia Dalma smiled at them. She had her hands behind her back as she walked. "Victoria, not Swann." Tia smiled. "You found a man, I am surprised but only by the choice."

"Do you know this woman?" James asked.

"Y-Yes," Victoria wasn't paying her husband much attention. Her eyes were on the strange woman before them and her eerie smile. "I remember... you told me about a man in my future. A man waiting for me."

"Many men have waited for you. Only one is not." Tia's eyes wandered to James and then back to Victoria. "You are wounded and in pain, I might help you."

James stepped forward. "Can you help her?"

"James..." Victoria frowned.

"I can help her," Tia nodded. "Take me to the ship, and I'll help your bride."

Not needing to be told twice, James turned around and picked Victoria up, carrying her in his arms. "Let's go," he said. Tia walked ahead and James followed. Victoria leaned her head against his chest. "You'll be better soon," James cooed at her.

She nodded with a weak smile on her lips. 

They returned to the Empress and James brought Victoria aboard. "The Captain's cabin," he instructed and Tia followed him and his wife into the warm quarters. Victoria was put down on the bed and she grunted softly as James' arms let her go. "Please, anything you need." James turned to Tia.

Tia Dalma smiled and seated herself next to Victoria. "Clean cloth, and clean water," she told the former Admiral.

James nodded and left immediately go fetch what she asked for. Tia Dalma smiled at Victoria the moment he'd left. "To get privacy," she explained silently. "Let me see..." She gently lifted Victoria's shirt to inspect the wound. It had healed fairly well but James was no doctor and it required more attention.

"How did you know?" Victoria suddenly asked. "How did you know... that I'd have to choose?"

Tia Dalma smiled as she gingerly ran her fingers over the edges of the wound, producing a small jar of ointment from her thick skirt. "I know things." Was her silent answer. "How, does not matter."

Victoria thought for a moment. The pain slowly subsided as the ointment was applied to her wound. She sighed in relief. "What else do you know, Tia Dalma? Does the world turn differently for you?"

"Perhaps," Tia smiled. Her face was filled with secrecy, and she placed a hand on Victoria's stomach, just below the wound, that looked much better than it had just moments earlier. Victoria watched as the wound seemed to close itself and leave nothing but a faint scar. Victoria stared with her mouth hanging open. "I know..." Tia Dalma murmured. "That you have more life in you."

Victoria hesitated, tearing her eyes from her new scar. "M-More life? I-..." Realization dawned on her. "I'm pregnant."

"Yes," Tia nodded, caressing the skin under the scar. 

"Oh my God," Victoria let herself fall back to lie on the bed. She remembered another thing that made her sit back up. "Your services," she said, "you'll need payment."

A pleased smile stretched across Tia's face. Glad that Victoria remembered and thought of it herself. "A favor," she said. "I do you this favor, you do me one."

Trading in favors wasn't something Victoria liked to do, but she had a feeling she had to. "That sounds fair," she said, although cautiously. "I will do you a favor."

The smile on Tia Dalma's face widened and her almost black teeth peeked out from behind her lips. "Excellent," she purred. "When the time comes, I will ask you for a favor. Not now but it will come."

"I-I understand," Victoria nodded and Tia's eyes wandered down to her stomach.

Gingerly, Tia let her hand hover over the exposed skin. "It'll be a strong child," she assured Victoria. "Calypso herself will watch over the child."

"Calypso?" Victoria asked. "What does that mean? Who is she?" She asked but Tia Dalma got up and walked towards the door without another word. Victoria got up, without pain or problem, and watched Tia Dalma exit the cabin and disappear out of sight. 

James reappeared in the doorway. "Victoria," he stepped into the cabin. "Where did she go? Are you-"

"I'm fine, James. I'm fine now," Victoria said, walking up to him. James put aside the cloth and the bucket of water he had and embraced her. They'd both seen enough not to question how Victoria had magically healed. All that mattered was that she was all right. 

James ran his hand over his wife's hair. "I'm so glad you're all right."

With a gulp, Victoria nodded and looked up at him. "James..." Her confession felt heavy in her chest, not because she wasn't happy about it but because it was yet another reason to stay away from whatever danger they might encounter. The time and world they lived in didn't have that kind of luxury, yet. 

Her husband eyes her worriedly. He sensed her concern and his arms tightened around her. "Yes?" He urged her to continue. 

"James, I'm..." Victoria knew James would be happy but his worry would quickly take over. She took a deep breath to gather herself and her thoughts. "James, I'm pregnant."

There was a brief pause and James didn't seem to understand her at first. His eyebrows were knitted together in a confused frowned and he seemed to replay the words to himself over and over again. Then, it clicked and his eyes widened and mouth fell open. "Oh!" He gripped his wife by the arms. "Oh, my love." He pulled her into another embrace.

"You're going to be a father," Victoria smiled. 

"Heaven have mercy," James beamed at her. "You're telling me the truth?"

"Always," Victoria promised.

-

"I call for a vote!" Jack announced and smiled as he saw Victoria enter the room once more. She looked like she was feeling a lot better. Her husband was with her, with his arm hooked with hers, Jack felt like rolling his eyes but turned to the table of gathered pirate Lords.

They needed a king for the Court and Jack had a plan. There was only one person in that room with the power and determination to lead their fleet. The pirate Lords began announcing their votes, all of them granting themselves their vote. Even Elizabeth and Barbossa favored themselves over any other pirate.

It was Jack's turn to vote and he gave a smug smile as he spoke, loud and clear, "Elizabeth Swann." Barbossa's brows fell and his face twisted into a scowl as he glared at Jack. Elizabeth, taken aback and looking around in confusion, took half a step back when the pirates around the table started protesting.

Victoria and Norrington looked equally confused and Victoria left her husband's side to stand by Jack. Suddenly, Jack felt much more confident and steady.

"Done," Elizabeth nodded.

"Not done!" Jocard cried.

"Not acceptable!", "Outrageous!", "Explain yourself, Sparrow!", "This will not stand!" Came several protests from around the long table. 

Jack held his hands up in defense. "Ah," he grinned. "Am I to understand, then, that we will not keep to the code?"

Victoria turned as a man sitting in the corner of the room broke a sting on his mandolin, she hadn't noticed him there earlier. He looked familiar, though she'd never seen him before. The Pirates around the table exchanged looks and seemed to grow anxious. 

A woman standing by the table, dressed in an eastern robe with her hair neatly done and her face painted nodded. "Very well," she said. "What say you, Captain Swann, King of the Brethren Court?"

Victoria did a double take. Was that what the pirates had been discussing? What that what they had been voting for? Her sister, Victoria Swann, had been elected King? She turned to Jack with wide eyes, he glanced at her and winked before he turned his full attention to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gazed at the pirates in the room. She stood tall and then stepped forward to speak. "Prepare every vessel that can float. We are at war."

Silence fell before a shorter man rose from his seat at the table and opened his mouth to speak. Everyone in the room seemed eager to hear what he had to say. "And so," he spoke with a high pitched voice, several pairs of shoulders in the room slumped, "we shall go to war!" the man continued and all pirates rose up and vowed 'War'.

Jack smiled victoriously and put a hand on Victoria's back, leading her towards the door. "What did you do?" She asked him.

"Might just have saved the world," Jack smiled and stopped before the man who'd played the mandolin. Victoria stopped too. The man watched Jack silently. "What?" Jack asked him. "You've seen it all. And survived. That's the trick, isn't it? To survive?"

Victoria watched the man shake his head. "It's not just about living forever, Jackie. The trick is, living with yourself forever."

Suddenly, Victoria made the connection between the men. They were father and son. It was clear as day once you saw it. Jack inclined his head towards his father and then turned back to Victoria, "Let's go," he whispered into her ear.

James waited by the door and glared at Jack as he came walking with Victoria at his side. Jack gave an innocent look but kept his hand on the woman's lower back, gently pushing her towards the door. James gave Jack's hand a sharp swat, and the pirate withdrew his hand with an offended frown. " _My wife_ ," James mouthed at him as he took Victoria's hand. She didn't notice the two men fighting behind her back. Or... she noticed and decided to ignore it.

Once they were all outside, Victoria turned to the strange man who'd followed them. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Captain Hector Barbossa, you must be the lovely Miss Swann," Barbossa bowed his head.

"Not in the least," Victoria said. "Mrs. Victoria Norrington stands before you. You must be the man my sister told me about. A cursed enemy and now you're... the strange accomplice?" Her voice was mocking but she had a smile on her face.

"Another jester," Barbossa grunted. "Why am I not surprised?" His eyes turned to James and recognition sparked in his eyes. "Ah, former Commodore," he greeted James. "How lovely to see you again."

James grumbled something inaudible and Victoria corrected Barbossa. "Former Admiral, in fact," she said. "Mr. Norrington." She stepped up in front of her husband and James immediately drew her back.

"No heroics from you," he said. "And stop trying to make enemies."

Victoria laughed. "Enemies? Oh no, dear. I'm testing to see how far I can push him. I've no intention of becoming his enemy." She looked at Barbossa with a challenging look.

Jack felt as if he was flourishing. That challenging look of hers was what made him feel the most alive. He could do anything when she looked at him like that. Barbossa smiled and let out a roaring laugh. "I like the lass!" he chuckled. "She's got guts, I'll tell you that." He pointed at James and turned to head back to the Pearl.

With a huff, Victoria turned to Jack with a big smile. "Jack," she said. "We've so much to talk about. You must tell me everything that has happened!"

"Well," Jack looked pleased to have her attention. "Let me buy you a drink and I'll tell you," he glanced at James, "and your charming husband all about it."

The former Admiral sighed. "I'd prefer not to. Your shenanigans do not interest me in the slightest."

Victoria smiled at her husband and gave his arms a pat. "Well, I'd love a drink but I'm holding off at the moment. But I would very much like to hear the stories," she said. "Where will you be, James?"

"Is much as I'd like to, I'm not comfortable returning to the Empress without you. Your sister might actually have my head," James muttered. "I will return to the Pearl if it doesn't irk you," he said and turned to Jack.

"Irked or not, you go ahead," Jack shrugged. "I'll steal the missy for a while." He winked but James didn't look the least amused. With another grunt and a roll of his eyes, he leaned down and kissed his wife on her forehead and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. 

"I'll be on the Pearl. Give him hell," he murmured into her ear and she giggled as he walked away.

Victoria hooked her arm under Jack's. "Lead the way, Captain!" she chirped.

Jack had always liked the word Captain but suddenly, the title felt ten times better than before. They found a tavern somewhere within the wreckage and they sat down at a table in the corner. Jack with a bottle of rum and Victoria emptyhanded. However, she looked mighty interested in anything and everything Jack did and watched him with the biggest smile on her face. 

"What?" Jack asked her after a while. "Is there something on my face?

"No," Victoria laughed and shook her head. "I just... I can't believe you're alive. I saw you die."

"And I saw you row off with my killer and her fiancé," Jack drank from the bottle. When he put it down and turned back to his company there was a big frown on her face. "Oh," realization dawned on Jack. "You didn't know..."

Victoria shifted in her seat. "Killer? Are you talking about Elizabeth?"

"Very much so," Jack sighed. "Chained me to the ship right before she left, she did." He pushed the bottle back and forth between his hands. "Sent me to the Locker without a second thought."

"That lying little-..." Victoria muttered curses under her breath. "She told me you chose to stay behind. She looked me in the eyes and lied to me! And I believed her." 

Jack watched the woman curse her sister and glare angrily down at the table. "You seem to... not get along very well," he pointed out. "It seems I missed a lot when I was gone."

"You did, Jack..." Victoria frowned and reached across the table and took his hand. "Jack, you don't understand how difficult it was to lose you." Her words made Jack's heart skip a beat. "After I'd lost you I felt as if I'd lost everything," Victoria said. "I couldn't stand it, I even returned to Port Royal to-..." she stopped herself, "well, that's a long story too, isn't it?"

"We've got plenty of time," Jack said and offered her the bottle. She declined with a shake of her head. Jack eyed her. She looked good with a healthy fullness to her cheeks and a slight flush of red on the tip of her nose and her chin. That she appeared to be in good health made Jack smile. "You look beautiful," he told her, not being able to hold it back. 

She looked up and smiled at him. "Thank you, Jack," she said softly. "It's... good to see you again. I've missed you. A lot."

Jack couldn't agree more. His delirious time in the Locker had done nothing but drive him crazy, for her. "I've missed you too, more than you understand," he told her, their hands still intertwined. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Nor I you," Victoria smiled but there were tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I-..." she stopped herself and Jack tilted his head to the side.

There were so many things he wanted to tell her, the first and most important being  _I love you_ , but he was smarter than to blurt something like that out. Especially to a woman that was married... to a former Admiral of the navy who'd once been his enemy... and whose sister had just been crowned king of all pirates...

"You don't have to speak," Jack told her, giving her hand a squeeze. "Why don't I tell you the exciting story of how I escaped the Locker?"

With a frantic nod, Victoria grasped his hand tighter. "Yes, please," she said. 


	14. Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly think this is my favorite chapter so far. Idk what it is, I just really like how it turned out.

The mess deck was filled with hammocks hanging from the ceiling and each one housed a sleeping sailor. Victoria didn't mind the snores and the gentle swaying of the hammock. When she woke she carefully leaned over to the side and looked at the hammock below hers. Her husband slept soundly tucked away under a rugged blanket and she smiled, reaching down to brush some hair out of his face. He was gorgeous when he slept. It was the one time he relaxed fully.

James peered his eyes open when she ran her fingers over his forehead and smiled tiredly up at her with half his face still buried in the small pillow sown into the hammock.

With a finger held to her lips, Victoria looked around and slipped out of her hammock, landing silently in the floorboards. Carefully and very gently, she climbed into James' hammock without tipping it over. He wrapped his arms around her while she made herself comfortable and nestled in his embrace.

He'd always preferred sleeping in a hammock, Victoria had learned. James had grown up on ships and many years he'd been assigned a cabin of his own with a bed or cot, but the simplicity of a hammock was what he found most comfortable.

Victoria watched her husband fall back asleep, at peace. His beard was coming along, having become more than just itchy stubble. James' hand laid over her stomach, protecting her and their unborn child even in his sleep.

"You'll be a great father," Victoria whispered in her husband's ear. "You'll be brilliant."

"We will," James corrected her, still half asleep.

Smiling, Victoria kissed his forehead and nuzzled her nose against his neck. She felt how the skin on his cheek tightened as he smiled but he said nothing.

It was almost dawn, and they had a feeling they'd need all the rest they could get. They were at war and Victoria was still uncertain of which side she was on. Would she be lending her hand to pirates? She put her hand over James' and there and then Victoria Norrington thought of the future instead of the past. What and where would they be in a couple of hours? Days? Months?

"Relax, dear. We're not in any life-threatening danger at the moment," James murmured into her hair. "For a few moments more, at least."

Victoria smiled. "I can't help it. Hold me, will you?"

"Of course."

A rather loud snore came from one of the other hammocks. Husband and wife smiled at one another. The world allowed them a few more hours of sleep.

-

Jack leaned against the railing, gazing up at the pile of wreckage. The sun hadn't shown itself yet but the sky was slowly turning red and orange. His night had been the most laid back in a while. Talking to Victoria was so giving, she listened and believed everything he said without much question. Rocks turning into crabs? No doubt. Said crabs carrying the ship to the water? Absolutely. Victoria took him seriously and not many did that.

In turn, he listened to her. She'd told him the nearly heartbreaking story of how she'd lost hope when the beast took him. Victoria told him what it'd been like to return to Port Royal but she'd been very sparse with details about meeting Beckett. She told him about James' return and how they'd decided to wed immediately, not taking any chances. It hurt Jack to hear but he understood. She didn't want to be alone and she thought he was dead. Well, he was, but not any longer and if she'd just waited a while longer it could have been them. But Jack hadn't told her that. Though he wanted to.

"Up and about?" A voice came from behind him. It was Elizabeth.

Jack flashed her a brief smile. He wasn't sure exactly where he had her after hearing that she and Victoria had started falling out. "Early bird and all that."

Elizabeth smiled and came to stand beside him. "I can't sleep either."

"Who said anything about not sleeping? I've slept like a babe," Jack lied. It didn't look like Elizabeth believed him. Victoria would have. They stood silently until Jack couldn't stand the silence any longer. "What's the deal with you two sisters? I thought you moved and acted as a unit."

"Right," Elizabeth sighed. "She takes on the role as a victim. She goes on about how she lost everything and how I should respect that snake of a husband she's got," Elizabeth snarled. "Victoria doesn't know what's good for us or herself. She doesn't understand."

"On the contrary, I think you're the one who doesn't understand," Jack mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"I think you're very wrong," Jack repeated a little louder. "Your sister came here for your wedding but didn't hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and help you," he pointed out. "Out of the two of you, who hurt the most? I've talked to your sister, she's trying to force herself to be happy."

"She looks happy with the Admiral."

Jack tilted his head to the side. James Norrington no doubt made Victoria happy but Elizabeth wasn't seeing the entire picture. "You two really don't talk, do you?" He sighed and shook his head.

"Her husband boarded my ship."

"And they helped you escape."

"She lied about what had happened to Will!"

"That was my fault, not hers."

Elizabeth frowned. "She-"

"It sounds like you're trying to blame her for something. Anything and everything," Jack pointed out and gave Elizabeth a disapproving glare. "Stop trying to shove responsibilities on her."

With a hurt scowl, Elizabeth drew back slightly. "Why are you defending her?! You can't side with her because you've gone an fallen in love with her!" She yelled.

"I side with her because it's right. She's only human."

"And I'm not?" Elizabeth looked to be on the brink of tears. "Jack... I'm scared. I don't know what's going on anymore and Will is God knows where. I'm all alone."

Jack sighed and turned to face her. "You've got your sister but not for much longer if you keep pushing her away."

Elizabeth knew that he was right but it was so difficult to admit that she was wrong. She didn't trust James and she doubted her sister more than she'd ever done before. Jack watched Elizabeth think for a few moments before she glared at him and left without another word.

Just as Elizabeth had left, James Norrington ascended from below deck. He was alone. Their eyes met but this time neither of them averted their gaze. With just a hint of hesitation, James walked over.

"Sparrow," he muttered.

"Norrington."

It was tense between them, but the level of hostility had gone down significantly. Probably because both men had accepted their fates and where they stood when it came to Victoria.

They would both fight for her life but James had lost to the pirate before and didn't fancy being humiliated once more. Jack, on the other hand, didn't want to ruin what Victoria had worked so hard to build. If she was happy he'd be happy too, somehow.

"Missy come back all right?" Jack asked. He knew, of course, since they'd walked together back to the Pearl.

James glanced at him and nodded. "Yes, all chirping with chatter. Overjoyed to see you," James didn't sound very bitter and Jack was happy to hear that he was missed once more.

"I see," Jack murmured. "So what do the two of you intend to do... once this is over?"

With a slight sigh, James put his hands behind his back. It was the posture he had when he pondered things, the formality of being in the Navy lingering. "That depends entirely on the outcome of this war, doesn't it? I suppose... since we both enjoy sailing, and not so much staying in one place, we'll stay on the sea." He hesitated. "But not for a few years, at least." The pirate Captain gave a quizzical look. James understood. "She hasn't told you, then."

"I sense a theme. Nobody ever tells anybody anything around here," Jack complained.

James smiled to himself mostly but extended the smile to Jack. "We're expecting a child, Sparrow."

Silence fell over them both. James turned to look out over Shipwreck City and Jack stood, for a moment, frozen and stared at the former Admiral. The father-to-be. Jack was jealous. The envy felt like a disease within him and he silently balled his hands into fists.

"Congratulations, then," Jack said, forcing himself to relax. "That's the second time I tell you that in two days, and honestly I feel as if I'm spoiling you."

James laughed at that. "What can I say? My luck has certainly turned around."

The way the former Admiral had laughed made much of the jealousy in Jack fade. James had been to hell and back, much like Jack himself but James had fought harder and taken the chances Jack had not.

Jack pouted. "I suppose I've got a few ounces of respect for you, somewhere on my person."

James turned to him. This time with a small but very genuine smile. "Thank you, you're one of a very sparse crowd. And though you might have ruined me once I can't say that it didn't turn out," he said. "Part of me thinks I should thank you, and it's probably right."

"I've heard several thank yous from you lately. It's unnerving," Jack confessed. "But you are welcome."

"Yes," James suddenly looked exhausted. "Just know that my wife has already insisted, twice, to name our child after you," he sighed. "Trying to convince her otherwise will be a humongous task."

Jack grinned. "I make that impression on women," he said. The two men looked at one another. There was no hatred between them. Some jealousy and slight mistrust but nothing they couldn't see over. "Drinks once this is over?" Jack suggested.

James nodded. "First round's on me."

-

"Higher, dear. Right foot forward," James instructed. His wife adjusted her posture and gripped her sword in her hand. With an approving nod, James swiped his sword at her, she blocked the blow and countered it. "Good." Elizabeth watched her sister spar with the former Admiral. Victoria had become quite proficient with a blade. No doubt James' doing. Victoria lunged forward, with her sword ready. Her husband blocked her blow and stepped to the side. They'd switched places. "Nicely done," James said.

"This is the kind of support I need," Victoria huffed with a wide smile.

"You, dear," James grinned at her, not letting her off the hook, "need to practice your footwork."

Victoria chuckled lightly. "I'll spar with you for a while," Elizabeth suddenly offered. Victoria looked up at her where she lounged on the bridge.

James noticed his wife's hesitation.

"Sure," Victoria nodded at her sister.

Elizabeth stepped down and drew her sword, raising it and lowering herself into a stable stance. Victoria furrowed her eyebrows and did tell same, steadying herself for combat. The two sisters glared at one another for several tense moments before Elizabeth attacked, holding nothing back. Victoria responded with the same vicious attacks and counters. Hacking, slashing, stabbing and swiping at one another, the sisters' fight was one to watch. It looked as if they were actually going to kill each other.

James stood to the side and watched. He looked extremely concerned and his face was scrunched into a frown. He watched the two women fight while grunting curses at one another. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched his wife block a blow from above and kick her sister in the gut, uncertain if he should be impressed or intimidated.

Jack came walking, looking worried when he saw the sisters go at one another like they were out for blood. He winced and went to stand beside the former Admiral.

"Blimey, mate. You've an interesting taste in women."

James only nodded as a response.

"Are they sparring or fighting to the death?" Jack asked.

"I am not quite sure," James confessed, wondering if he should step in after all.

Elizabeth growled when she struck next. She swung her sword, this time with most of her weight behind the blow. Victoria's sword was struck from her hand. A sly grin spread across the younger sister's face but the older sister wasn't defeated.

With a frustrated shout, Victoria used her palm to slap Elizabeth's sword, on the flat side, to the side. It was enough to throw Elizabeth off and Victoria was free to attack, jumping forward and wrestling her sister to the floor. Elizabeth threw her sword aside and grabbed her sister by the shoulders. The sword fight turned into a fistfight. "This is for leaving me back in Tortuga!" Elizabeth hissed and punched her sister in the jaw.

"You killed Jack!" Victoria spat, yanking at her sister's hair.

"You lied about Will!"

"I told you I was going to go back for him!"

More curses and accusations were tossed between the sisters, as well as punches and kicks. By now, the entire crew of the Pearl watched on and James decided to interfere.

He rushed forward and pulled his wife back up to her feet and got between her and Elizabeth. The two women went at it again with him in between, yanking and pulling at the man as they tried to get to one another.

The crew watched without getting involved. 

"You keep abandoning me!" Elizabeth shouted as she clawed at her sister.

"Only because you keep pushing me away!" Victoria yelled in reply.

"Ladies, please!" James struggled to keep them parted. They weren't close enough to throw real punches but that didn't stop them from trying and with James in the middle he got his fair share of hits.

Gibbs and Jack watched them with equally distracted faces. "Should we lend a hand, Captain?" Gibbs asked when Victoria let out a particularly colorful string of curses.

Jack hummed. "Just... wait a few more minutes." He swatted his hand at his first mate, not quite ready to jump in.

"You're so stupid! You can't keep pushing me away!" Victoria wailed. Her punches weren't as vicious any longer and she leaned against her husband instead of trying to get past him. "I-I can't take that right now!"

Elizabeth frowned, clutching the back of James' coat in her hands. They were no longer throwing punches and seemed closer to tears than to a fight. "I'm not stupid! What am I supposed to do without Will? At least you've got your stupid husband," Elizabeth sniffled and her sister's frown grew. "You think you're the only one who can't take being pushed away?"

Victoria came to a stop and leaned her cheek against James' arm, still having her hands balled into fists. "Then stop pushing me away, stupid! I'm trying to be there for you."

"I know," Elizabeth said. The volume of their conversation had gone from shouts to an almost normal conversation tone, although a sad one.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie."

The two sisters hugged, with James still between them. Both of them were crying and were battered from the fight. Victoria had a bloodied lip and the bruise on Elizabeth's cheek would be turning purple soon. More bruises would soon make themselves seen. Both sisters were going to have matching black eyes.

Relieved that his wife and sister-in-law were no longer fighting, James gently patted the women on their respective back.

"Marvelous," Jack looked pleased. "I knew it would work out." He told his first mate with a confident grin.

"Of course, Captain."

James wiggled out from between the two women and they embraced one another as if he hadn't been there. The former Admiral stepped aside, out of breath and with aching arms. "God, you two..." he muttered as he caught his breath. 

Jack came and gave his shoulder a pat. "Well done, Mr. Norrington. You sure showed them."

"You could have helped," James muttered.

Jack ignored James' glare and shrugged his shoulders. "Your wife," he said with a grin.

Elizabeth and Victoria parted, both with glossy eyes. "I'm sorry I pushed you away, Victoria. But with everything going on... I needed someone to take the responsibility." Elizabeth shook her head. "It was wrong of me."

"I shouldn't have left you like I did," Victoria frowned.

"You did the right thing. You needed it... and look at you," Elizabeth smiled at her sister. "Married."

The older sister smiled. "Soon you'll be too. We'll find Will," she promised. "Even if we have to turn the world upside down."

Elizabeth laughed. "I hope it won't come to that again." Her expression softened slightly and she settled down. "I don't want to fight you, Vickie. Not now, not while we're fighting everyone else. We can't afford to fight."

With a nod, Victoria let her arms drop to her sides. "I agree," she murmured. "Let's focus on finding Will, and getting out of this alive."

"That sounds reasonable," Elizabeth said.

"Now you're being reasonable?" James asked.

Elizabeth glared at him and then turned to her sister. "For the record, I still don't trust him. You may trust him all you want but I don't," she said and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm still expecting him to go and switch sides again."

His sister assured her that he would not. James, who'd caught his breath, stood beside his wife. "I don't intend on switching sides at all, Elizabeth," he said. "Could we, please, put this aside and focus on the war you've declared instead?"

"It's difficult to focus when you're waiting for a knife in the back..." Elizabeth didn't look very happy. "I'll put aside this for now, and you better prove yourself, James," she hissed out through gritted teeth. "I've heard about the child, and don't think I won't protect my sister-child with my life."

James let out an offended grunt. "It's my child, too. I'll defend my wife and child to my last breath," he growled. "From anything, and anyone."

Sensing the tension, Victoria stepped in between them. "No, we're done fighting between one another," she said. "If you two don't settle down I don't know what I might do." She walked to pick up her sword and placed it back in its sheath attached to her belt. She went and picked up her sister's sword and held it out for Elizabeth to grab. "Don't go and kill my husband," she said and gave Elizabeth a stern look. "And you," she turned to her husband, "prove to Elizabeth that you're on her side."

"Yes, dear," James nodded.

Victoria glanced at Jack, who grinned like a madman. " _Yes, dear,"_  he mimicked James silently, making Victoria roll her eyes. However, she had to admit that it was funny.

"Captain Sparrow, should you be preparing your ship?"

Jack saluted her. "Yes, ma'am," he said with an even wider grin before he marched off to order the ship prepared for departure. He retreated to the bridge and Victoria followed, leaving her sister and husband to glare at one another. She went to stand by Jack as he watched the sailors run about and complete their tasks. "Mrs. Norrington," he greeted her. It had become his standard greeting when he wasn't calling her by her name. He always had a slightly mocking tone when he called her by her new last name, but it was an affectionate kind of mocking.

Victoria smiled at him. "Captain Jack Sparrow," she said.

Jack puffed up with pride. "You know, being called Captain is particularly pleasant when you're doing the calling," he said. "Not long ago you refused to acknowledge my title," he pointed out.

With a shrug, Victoria leaned into his side and gave his hip a bump with her own. "Changed my mind when you came back and saved my arse," she winked at him. 

"It is an arse worth saving," Jack admitted, glancing downwards and earning himself an amused laughter from the woman before him. "Your husband is a lucky man."

"Shame you got swallowed by a squid, you were on my list," Victoria said.

Jack cursed under his breath. It might have seemed like a jest to Victoria but he was sincerely disappointed. Was she being serious? Had he had a chance and he'd missed it because he wanted to play hero? Knowing this was positively worse than not knowing.

The Captain forced a smile, "Well... Hero," he pointed to himself. 

Victoria smiled at him, softly and with that special kind of affection that she'd reserved just for Jack. "You really are, Jack. You're a good man. One of very few," she said. 

Chuckling softly, Jack glanced down at the deck. "I'd embrace you, but your husband might take it the wrong way."

"Oh, Jack," Victoria sighed and shook her head. "Come here, you big lout." She pulled him into a big hug. "If my husband can't take me hugging another man then he can go and jump off the boat."

"He's heading towards the railing right now, actually." Jack grinned.

Victoria looked over her shoulder in horror, just to realize that he was joking. She glared at him, "Yes, good one." She gently pushed him away and slapped him on his chest. 

Jack smiled, that had become a habit in the past two days. He didn't even mind being slapped. When she noticed him smiling, Victoria softened and leaned against the helm. "Tomorrow's the day, then?" she asked. "War?"

The expression on the Captain's face turned grim. "Yes," he said. "Whatever happens... I'll protect you. You have my word."


	15. Turmoil

It was eerily quiet. The mist laid on the sea like a thick blanket and the horizon was invisible behind it. Victoria shuddered, the air was chilly but James' hand was warm. She gave it a firm squeeze. James didn't avert his eyes from the horizon and the expression on his face was grave. 

Victoria gulped. On her other side stood her sister, who gave her a gentle but very scared smile. One of the crew stood at the forecastle peering ahead. They all tensed when the Endeavour silently crept out of the fog.

"The enemy is here! Let's take 'em!" Marty shouted.

The pirates on all the ship shouted their approval. Their strong and confident war cries echoing in the silent morning. James cursed under his breath and pulled Victoria closer when a second ship appeared behind the Endeavour, and then another... and then yet another. Victoria gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as the armada of the Company revealed itself. There were hundreds of ships, at least. The pirates' cries died down as the Flying Dutchman ascended from the ocean to lead the armada.

Victoria turned to her sister, who turned to look at Jack. With a sheepish but very concerned smile, Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Parlay?"

-

A rowboat was prepared. Jack, Elizabeth, and Barbossa climbed into the boat. Victoria stepped into the longboat as well. "What do you think you're doing?" James grabbed her by the arm, ready to yank her out of the boat.

"I'm going with my sister," Victoria said, looking up at him. 

"Please, don't," James looked about ready to burst into tears or a tantrum. "Please, don't go."

Victoria took his hand in hers and kissed it. "I will not leave Elizabeth. You stay here, I'll be back," she promised. She kissed her husband's hand again. "I promise I'll be back."

James frowned as she stepped into the boat, and watched the crew lower it into the water. They rowed out a strip of sand and walked across it to meet with those who waited for them. Davy Jones, Cutler Beckett, and William Turned. Victoria grabbed her sister's hand when they drew nearer and came to a stop.

"You be the cur that led these wolves to our door," Barbossa said, looking at Will.

Cutler straightened where he stood. "Don't blame Turner. He was but the tool of your betrayal," he glanced at Victoria but quickly averted his eyes. "If you wish to see its grand architect look to your right."

Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Victoria turned and looked at Jack. The Captain turned to look left too, but there was no one for him to look at. He turned back to the others and cowered slightly. "Me?" he asked. "My hands are clean in this... figuratively," he said after glancing at his hands.

Victoria stared at him, confused.

"My actions were my own, to my own purpose. Jack had nothing to do with it," Will said. 

"There!" Jack forced a smile. "Listen to the tool."

Elizabeth stepped forward, letting go of her sister's hand. "Will, I've been aboard the Dutchman," she said. "I understand the burden you bear, but I fear that cause is lost."

"No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it," Will said. He looked at Jack for a short moment. Victoria still hadn't taken her eyes off him, still in disbelief. 

Cutler spoke up and Victoria's eyes darted to the Lord. "If Turner was not acting on your behalf, then how did he come to give me this?" he asked and held up Jack's compass.

"Jack..." Victoria frowned.

"You made a deal with me, Jack," Cutler said, "to deliver the pirates... and here they are." He tossed the compass to Jack but Victoria caught it before Jack the chance to do it.

Jack frowned, "Victoria," he said, reaching out to her. She backed away from him. She shook her head and tossed his compass into the sand. 

Jones barked a short laughter. "Your debt to me must still be satisfied," he said. "One hundred years in servitude aboard the Dutchman... as a start."

Tearing his eyes from the woman before him, Jack turned to Jones. "That debt was paid. With some help," he said after glancing at Elizabeth.

"You escaped," Jones growled.

"A technicality." Jack shrugged.

Victoria stepped forward, to stand by her sister's side. "Then let me settle this," she said, looking Davy Jones straight in the eye. "I propose an exchange. Will leaves with us..." She turned to Jack with a glare. "And you can have Jack."

Hurt filled every inch of Jack. The look in her eyes said everything he needed to know.

"Done," Jack nodded.

Victoria looked surprised. Almost as she regretted what she'd just said and offered Jones. Jack hadn't even tried to protest.

"That's that, then," Cutler said and Victoria turned to him with a glare. 

"You can't do that," Barbossa protested. "He's one of the Nine Pirate Lords. You've no right!"

"I second my sister," Elizabeth said. "As King."

Victoria looked at her sister, there was something in her eyes that Victoria recognized. Elizabeth knew something Victoria didn't. "As you wish," Jack nodded and stepped forward. "But first..." he grabbed his sword from his sheat and cut off one of his braids, one decorated with pearls and a pendant. He pondered for a moment before offering it to Victoria.

Victoria hesitated but took it from him. With a weak smile, Jack switched places with Will.

Cutler looked pleased. "Advise your Brethren that you can fight, and all of you will die. Or you can not fight, in which case only most of you will die," he said. 

"You murdered our father," Victoria hissed at him.

Cutler looked at her. "He chose his own fate."

Without warning, Victoria stepped up to him. So close her nose touched his. "Pray you don't meet me once the battle has started. For I will kill you," she growled. 

There was a pause where no one said anything. "So be it," Cutler finally said.

Victoria turned around and marched back towards the long boat with her sister, Barbossa and Will following her. 

"King?" Will asked as he followed Elizabeth.

"Of the Brethren Court. Courtesy of Jack," Elizabeth explained. 

Will looked impressed. "Maybe he really does know what he's doing."

-

James embraced his wife the moment she climbed back aboard the Black Pearl. Will looked surprised to see him, and even more so to see him and Victoria together. "They're married now," Elizabeth explained. "Still trying to get used to it myself."

She looked as Barbossa climbed aboard the Pearl. She walked up to him with confident steps. "We'll need the Black Pearl to serve as our flagship, and lead the attack," she said.

"Will we, now?" Barbossa asked.

Victoria turned to him and spotted Tia Dalma being led onto the deck, bound by ropes and chains. "Calypso," she realized as they bound Tia Dalma to the mast. "Calypso," Victoria repeated and Tia Dalma looked at her.

James felt how his wife tensed in his arms as if she'd been turned to stone. She trembled and her eyes were blown wide. "Victoria?" he asked. "Victoria, dear?"

The commotion on the deck came to a stop as all eyes turned to Victoria and her increasing convulsions. "Victoria!" Elizabeth gasped, running to her sister's side.

Victoria couldn't tear her eyes from Tia Dalma and in her head, she could hear her speak to her.  _My favor,_ said the voice in Victoria's head. It hissed the words and it scared Victoria to no end.

She trembled and shook so bad it hurt.  _Release me, and be my hands in the battle to come._  The voice boomed in her head.  _Do what I tell you, no matter what. This is the favor I ask._

Nodding, Victoria sucked in a harsh breath. Tears formed in her eyes but she kept nodding. "Y-Yes," she stuttered. "Yes."

Tia Dalma smiled and glanced down at Victoria's clenched fist. Shaking, Victoria turned to Barbossa. Everyone watched her in horror. Victoria stretched her arm out towards Barbossa and he hesitantly did the same. "R-Release her," Victoria said, dropping Jack's braid into his hand. "Do it now," she ordered. She turned to her sister and looked at the pendant around her neck. "Give it to him," she said. 

Elizabeth did ask asked without questioning it.

"Victoria, my love." James gently grabbed his wife by her shoulders. "Victoria, are you all right?"

Eyes still wide, Victoria looked up at him. She didn't answer and quickly looked to Barbossa. "Do it now," she ordered him.

Preparations were made, Barbossa put the pendant and braid in the bowl with the rest of the Pieces of Eight that Pintel appeared with. The wind picked up and Victoria stared at the bowl. The voice was in her head still, whispering things she couldn't quite hear.

Elizabeth watched too. "Is there an incantation?" she asked.

"Aye," Barbossa said. "The items brought together, done. Has to be performed over water, we lucked out here. Items burned. And some person must speak the words 'Calypso, I release you from your human bonds'."

"Is that it?" Pintel furrowed his brows.

Barbossa nodded. "'Twas said it must be spoken softly, as if to a lover," he said and grabbed a bottle of rum from a nearby sailor and smashed it over the pile. He cleared his throat and turned to Tia Dalma. "Calypso," he talked as he was announcing something, "I release you from your human bonds!" He brought the lit punk into the pile but nothing happened.

"Is  _that_  it?" Pintel asked.

_Wrong!_  Shouted the voice in Victoria's head. She whimpered and put her hands over her ears to try and shut it out. "Wrong!" she screamed, curling up and shutting her eyes tight. "Wrong!"

"Y-You didn't say it right," Ragetti spoke up. "You have to say it right," he said when everyone looked at him. Victoria nodded. Ragetti stepped up to Tia Dalma, timidly leaning closer. "C-Calypso," he said and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I release you from your human bonds."

The punk in the bowl sparked and the items burst into flames. The pieces crumbled up and turned to ash. Tia Dalma and Victoria simultaneously gasped. Victoria fell forwards to her knees, James caught her before she hit the deck. 

The chains around Tia Dalma's wrists seemed to corrode and fell apart before the crew, falling to the deck with a clutter.

Will stepped forward. "Tia Dalma!" He called but got no reaction. "Calypso!" The woman tied to the mast looked up. "When the Brethren Court first imprisoned you, who was it that told them how?" He asked. "Who was it that betrayed you?"

"Name him," Tia and Victoria spoke at the same time.

"Davy Jones," Will said.

Tia glared towards the Flying Dutchman, anger and rage filling her with each passing second. Then suddenly she twisted and turned in unnatural angles. The wind picked up, more violent than before. Before the crew's eyes, she grew and grew until she was as tall as the mast. The deck nearly buckled under her weight. 

Victoria seemed to regain her footing and her breath. She stood up straight and tried to compose herself again. James helped her stand. "The favor," Victoria said, looking up at Calypso. "You'll have your favor!"

With a grin, the giantess collapsed in the form of thousands of crabs. 

"Is  _that_  it?" Will asked when the last of the crabs had slithered off the deck and into the water.

"Yes," Victoria nodded and turned to Elizabeth. "Now, we fight."

Gibbs suddenly protested. "There's an armada arrayed against us! We've got no chance of winning!" He said.

"Only a fool's chance," Elizabeth smiled.

"Revenge won't bring your father back, Miss Swann," he said with a glare. Elizabeth and Victoria both looked at him. "And it's not something I'm intending to die for."

Elizabeth glared at him, much like her sister. "You're right," Elizabeth growled. "Then what shall we all die for?" She asked, climbing up on the railing and turning to her crew. "Listen to me!" She shouted, voice booming across the deck. "The Brethren will still be looking here, to us, to the Black Pearl, to lead! What will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No." She said.

"No!" Victoria chorused. 

"They will see free men, and freedom!" Elizabeth shouted. "And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons. They will hear the ring of our swords, and they will know what we can do," she glared at Barbossa again, "by the sweat of our brows and the strength of our backs and the courage of our hearts." Elizabeth looked around, meeting her sister's eyes and then Will's. "Hoise the colors."

"Hoist the colors," Will said with a nod.

"Hoist the colors," Victoria repeated.

The crew repeated it, over and over and someone started to sing, urging the sailors back to their stations;  _Yo, ho, all hands, hoist the colors high._

"We've got the wind on our side, boys!" Gibbs shouted. "And that's all we need!"

Victoria let out a breath and smiled at her sister and then her husband. James looked positively astonished. Their flag was raised and from the looks of it, so was the flag of every other pirate ship.

"I love you, James," Victoria said and turned to her husband. "There's just... something I've gotta do, and you've got to let me do it."

"If you can promise me you'll come out of it unhurt," James murmured.

Victoria smiled at him. "Trust me."

The sky above them grew dark. A storm was brewing and lighting struck down at the sea. Rain started falling and the sea roused, starting to turn into a giant whirlpool.

James looked back, seeing how the Pearl left the rest of the pirate ships. When he looked forward he saw the Dutchman leave the armada of navy ships behind, heading towards them. Between the ships, the sea whirled dangerously.

"Maelstrom," Gibbs frowned. "Saints preserve us."

"Captain Barbossa!" Elizabeth called. "I need you at the helm!"

Barbossa laughed and pushed Cotton away from the wheel. "That be true!" He grinned. "Brace the yards! Set the staysails and turn her windward!" He ordered the crew. 

The Pearl and the Dutchman got caught in the Maelstrom and Victoria braced herself as the ship was caught in the violent streams. "More speed!" Barbossa shouted as the Dutchman gained on them. The Dutchman's cannons fired and hit the Pearl from behind. James put his hand on his wife's head as they braced themselves. She clutched his coat in her hands.

"Prepare the broadside!" Elizabeth shouted.

"Captain the guns! Bear-a-hand!" Gibbs ordered the crew.

Victoria looked up at James. They kissed before they parted to lend their hands where they were needed. Barbossa skillfully maneuvered the Pearl in the storm, evading most cannon fire.

The two ships chased each other around in the swirling sea. Circling each other and the middle of the whirlpool where the bottom of the sea was visible.

"Fire!" Victoria shouted the moment their cannons were loaded, and they had a relatively clear shot. "Show those bloody gits where it's at!" She pointed at the Dutchman. "Rip them apart!"

James grinned up at his wife as she shouted orders for the crew and curses for their enemies. He caught Will's eyes and winked at him. "That's my wife," James pointed at Victoria.

Will nodded with a concerned smile plastered across his face. He hadn't realized Victoria was so... bloodthirsty.

Victoria gasped, seeing Jack aboard the Dutchman. Even in the distance and in the rain she could see him and his colorful headband against the pale green boards of the Flying Dutchman's deck. He was carrying Jones' chest. It clicked in her mind. Jack wanted the chest, that had to be the reason he gave himself up. He needed a way aboard the ship. Or... wasn't that his plan? Victoria was confused. Her confusion turned into worry when she saw Davy Jones barge down the stairs towards Jack.

She swirled around, looking for a way over. They were getting closer and closer, she just needed something to propel herself across the gap between the ships.

"Looking for me?" James came to stand next to her. He had a rope in his hand that was attached to the mast. He offered her his hand and Victoria took it with a grin.

"Let's do it," she said and James pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist as he swung the two of them over to the Dutchman. They landed in the middle of the deck, surrounded by the Dutchman's crew. "You take the left, I take the right," Victoria drew her sword.

James pulled out his sword and stood back to back with his wife. "Remember your footwork," he reminded his wife.

"Yes, Admiral Norrington," Victoria nodded before taking the first swing at the nearest sailor.

Aboard the Black Pearl, several soldiers from the Dutchman had made their way over. William and Elizabeth fought side by side and in a brief pause Will glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth!" He called. "Dying for something, that's the easy part. What are we going to live for?"

Elizabeth looked at him, furrowing her brows in confusion of his timing. Another wave of attackers charged at them. "Right now is not the best time!"

She looked at William on the other side of the capstan. For a moment, they crashed into one another, standing shoulder to shoulder while fighting off soldiers from each direction.

William laughed softly. "Right now may be the only time!" He said. "I love you!" They parted again but the next time they came together William caught her hand. "I've made my choice. What's yours?"

For a short moment, Elizabeth looked at him. A split decision was made. "Barbossa!" She called, looking up at Captain Barbossa on the deck above. She and Will parted to avoid the attacks of two soldiers. "Marry us!" Elizabeth yelled.

On the upper deck, Barbossa was fighting off several of the cursed crewmen. Expertly swinging his sword and throwing punches all around. "I'm a little busy at the moment!" He roared.

Elizabeth and Will fought on each side of the deck. "Barbossa! Now!" Will shouted. 

"Fine, then!" Barbossa climbed atop the binnacle cabinet and kicked a soldier aside. "Dearly beloved, and others," he announced to anyone who'd listen. Will and Elizabeth were beside one another, fighting still. "We are gathered here-"

He was interrupted by another set of attackers. Will grunted as he shoved one of the crewmen away. It was going to take forever, but they didn't have forever. "Elizabeth Swann, do you take me to be your husband?"

Elizabeth smiled at him as she blocked a strike from a sailor with barnacles covering half his face. "I do," she chirped, as much as she could chirp at the moment.

Unable to keep his smile at bay, Will stopped his fighting for a moment. "Great!" He said.

Elizabeth took his hand in hers as she continued to fight with her free hand. "Will Turner, do you take me to be your wife?" She asked. "In sickness and health? With health being the less likely?"

"I do," Will replied.

Barbossa, seemingly not one to quit once he'd started something, rose on the upper deck. "As Captain, I pronounce you-" he started but was interrupted again. "You may kiss-" he grunted as she shoved a soldier aside. "You may kiss-" he was interrupted again and his frustration grew. "Just kiss!" He growled.

The couple on the main deck caught one another in an embrace and kissed.

Victoria spotted them from the deck of the Dutchman. "Oi!" She shouted at them across the roaring water and thundering cannons. "This isn't the time for a snog!"

James pushed her aside, and she just barely avoided a slash from a sword. "Pay attention!" He growled at her.

"I think my sister just got married and I missed it!" Victoria complained. Her eyes wandered from her husband to the yardarm where Jack and Davy Jones were dueling. "Jack!" She called.

Managing to knock the sword from Jones' hand, Jack grinned. "There is nothing you can do with that," he pointed at the chest, "without the key."

"I already have the key," Jack said.

Jones looked dumbfounded for a moment before grinning and producing the key from behind his tentacles. "No, you don't," he said, holding up the key.

Jack pouted. "Oh, that key," he muttered.

From nowhere, a sword came swinging and the blade cut the tentacle holding the key clean off. A spray of ink spurted towards Jack as Victoria landed between him and Jones.

"Hello, mates," she grinned at them both and snatched the key up before rushing off again. Jack stared at her as she retreated with the key in her hand.

Jones roared in anger and grabbed Jack's sword in his claw, snapping the blade in two. Above them, the mast of the Pearl and the Dutchman clashed together and shook both ships.

Victoria lost her balance, falling forward on her stomach and landing on the deck with a thud. James was by her side in an instant. "Up you get," he helped her get back on her feet. "No lying around here."

Her wife grinned at him. "I was thinking of taking a nap, but if you insist," she chuckled.

"No time for jokes, dear," James kissed her cheek. "I've got your back if you've got mine," he said. His wife nodded and they continued to fight by each other's side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boi, it's the beginning of an end here. Are you excited? I am!


	16. A Touch Of Destiny

Victoria dodged a punch and laughed when William swung himself across the gap between the Pearl and the Dutchman and kicked her assailant away. "Good timing, Will!" She patted him on the back. "Am I to understand that we're now brother and sister-in-law?"

"Very much so." Will nodded. 

"Welcome to the family," Victoria beamed at him, giving him a brief hug before they parted ways again.

Will bowed his head and then pointed his finger upwards. "I gotta go help Jack," he said before rushing off.

Victoria looked up and saw Jack dangling from the mast, no... from the chest held by Davy Jones, who just happened to be balancing on the edge of the mast. Terribly inconvenient and Victoria couldn't even start to imagine how they'd ended up there.

"James! Help Jack!" Victoria called.

Rolling his eyes as he fenced against two soldiers, James sighed, "Yes, dear," before getting rid of his attackers and following his wife. 

Above, Jack was slung into the air by Jones and grabbed onto a line and swung around the mast smashing into another sailor swinging on another line. Jack glared at him. "That's mine!" he snapped, snatching the pistol from the crewman and headbutted him off the line.

Grinning, Jack aimed the pistol at Jones, who was still balancing on the mast. He fired the pistol at Jones, who dropped the chest.

"Damn," Jack cursed and watched the chest fall and hit a crewman in the head. He smiled when Victoria was right there to pick the chest up. She looked up at him and gave a quick wave before rushing after Will.

Jack's grin disappeared when he noticed that Jones was now after her. "Get her!" Jones growled, and an array of sailors went after the young woman. "Kill her and get that damn chest!"

"Shit," Jack muttered. He had to make his way back down to the deck.

A crewman threw a punch, and it hit Victoria on the side of the head. She tumbled and dropped the chest. Rolling over, she parried a strike and kicked with her legs as they were pinned down by a sailor.

"Hands off!" She growled when she slashed at him with her sword.

James jumped to the rescue, leaping from the upper deck to aid his wife and wrestled the attacker to the ground. He recognized the soldier. He was certain they'd worked together in the past but attacking his wife was something he wouldn't tolerate. 

Victoria scrambled to her feet as he fought her assailant off, she wrinkled her nose at how her husband was beating the poor soldier's face into a bloody mess. She grabbed the chest and shoved the key into the keyhole. She was just about to open it when she had to jump back to avoid a swinging sword.

"James, watch out!" She blocked the stab from a soldier, knocking the blade away from James. "Heads up, Mr. Norrington."

"Thank you, dear," James smiled at her over his shoulder. His eyes widened for a moment and he pushed his wife aside. Davy Jones' claw slammed down on his shoulder, and James cried out in pain. He swung his sword, but Jones knocked it out of his hand and grabbed him by the arm, bending it back and forcing him down on one knee.

Victoria steadied herself. "Jones!" She growled, swinging the chest towards the cursed Captain. "Get your nasty paws off my husband." 

Jones avoided the chest but didn't budge nor release the former Admiral. "Mrs. Norrington, it's been a while," he snorted at her.

"Not nearly long enough," Victoria gripped her sword tighter in her hand. "Let go of James," she said, nodding that Jones' grip on her husband's forearm.

"Hand over the chest," Jones demanded.

"Never," Victoria hissed.

James howled in pain as the grip on his forearm tightened. "Hand over the chest," Jones repeated.

Victoria gulped and looked at her husband. He shook his head. "Don't do it, Victoria," he warned her and screamed. Jones' grip was like a vice around his arm.

Victoria saw red, and she clenched her teeth. Jones could well kill James right there and then. They stared each other down, neither moving nor looking away. "Hand the chest over!" Jones roared, squeezing the former Admiral's arm. A sickening crunch was heard when the bone broke and James grew pale. 

"J-James!" Victoria cried. She clutched the chest in her arms before she yanked the key out and rushed over to the railing to hold the chest over the edge. "Let go, or I will," she said.

Jones stared at her, anger and fear in his eyes. "Easy, Mrs. Norrington," his voice was but a murmur. "Let's not do anything hasty."

"Let him go!" Victoria shouted so loudly everyone on the deck stopped. "Let him go, right now!"

James winced as he was let go. "Now, hand over the chest," Jones said. Extending his tentacle hand towards the woman. "Please." It was a plea.

Glancing at her husband, Victoria spotted Jack on the upper deck. She grinned. "You want the chest?" She asked Jones. "Then catch it!" She flung the chest to the upper deck, and Jack clumsily caught it.

"No!" Jones rushed after the chest. "Kill them!" He ordered his crew. 

Victoria ran to her husband. He held his arm, moaning in pain. "James!" She cried.

"The arm's broken, no doubt," James grunted as she helped him back to his feet. "My sword arm's a loss."

Victoria grabbed held her weapon high, ready for the attackers. "Then you'll have mine," she said. "I'll protect you." They were surrounded. "I love you," Victoria mumbled to her husband.

A body swung down and landed before them. "Hey!" Elizabeth grinned at her sister. "You look to be in a bit of a pinch," she said. "Mind if I lend a hand?"

James smiled. "Not at all."

Even with Elizabeth by her side, it was a struggle. James was holding them both back and their time was running out as the ships circled closer and closer to the bottom of the swirling pit.

"James, get back to the ship," Victoria told her husband. "Go now, while you still can. I'll be right behind you."

The former Admiral knew that it wasn't the entire truth, but he nodded. "I love you," he said. "Come back safely."

Victoria smiled at him and kissed him before pushing him towards the railing and fighting her way, together with her sister, up to the upper deck. The two sisters got between Jack, and Davy Jones with their swords pointed at Jones.

Jones glared at the sisters. "Two of you? Bah!" He growled, prowling before them. "You'll see no mercy from me!"

"I'd be disappointed if I did," Victoria hissed at him jumped forward to strike.

_No,_  came the booming voice in her head. Victoria grew stiff, and her sword flew out of her hand as if the wind itself had torn it from her.  _This is not for you._

Victoria took a step backward. Jones seemed taken aback by her behavior. She trembled as she picked the sword back up but didn't attack again. "You're kidding me," she cried, frowning. Jones swung his hand at her, but she dodged. Victoria dodged and evaded a number of punches and attacks, but she was too scared to use her sword. What if it flew out of her hand again?

Elizabeth pulled her sister back. "What are you doing? You're getting yourself killed!"

"S-She won't let me." Victoria trembled. 

"Who?" Elizabeth asked.

"C-Calyp-... Calypso," Victoria whimpered, hearing the voice in her head frightened her.

"Don't speak of things beyond you!" Jones roared at her, kicking her in the gut. Victoria fell over, landing hard on the deck. Jack was by her side in an instant. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded, and he leaned closer. "Where's the key?"

Victoria looked at him, and he saw the timidness in her eyes. She reached into the pocket of her vest and picked out the key to the chest.  _Yes,_  the voice hissed. "T-Take it," Victoria handed the key to Jack with shaking hands. 

Jack looked at her. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she was uncertain what to look. She seemed to be listening to something, but Jack couldn't hear anything but the roaring of the water and the whipping sound of the rain against his hat. He put his hand on her shoulder, and her eyes snapped up and met his. She was terrified, Jack could tell. The horror in her eyes couldn't have been more evident, and Jack felt his heart break a million times and then some. 

"Victoria..." He sighed, but she didn't seem to hear. She shook her head as if to rid herself of horrible thoughts and turned away from him.

"Kill that bastard," she growled. "I'll buy you as much time as I can, but it won't be much, Jack."

 Victoria climbed back up to her feet. Elizabeth was facing off against Jones and was losing. Victoria left Jack behind and threw herself onto Davy Jones, wrapping her arms around his neck and grabbed a fistful of tentacles, ripping at them as hard as she could.

Jack watched her with the key in one hand and the chest in the other. Should he help her or end it, once and for all? He didn't have much time to decide.

Jones howled and threw Victoria off, tossing her into Elizabeth so that the two of them tumbled down the stairs. He followed, raising his sword. Victoria got up again and wrestled him for the blade. He was much stronger, but she needed to buy her sister time to recover and Jack time to end Jones.

William appeared by Elizabeth's side but jumped to Victoria's help. He sank his blade into Jones' chest. Jones laughed and shoved Victoria aside. "Did you forget?" He asked Will. "I am a heartless wretch."

Victoria stepped between the two men with her sword held high, ready to defend her brother-in-law who was without a weapon.

_Step back,_  said the voice and Victoria stopped again. She wanted to cry. What now? She couldn't step back now. "Please," Victoria frowned. "Please, let me."

Jones looked at her, bewildered. It was like fighting two different persons that shared a body. One eager to go at him while the other wanted to run. The young woman seemed torn, gripping her sword tightly in her hand while she seemed to fight herself more than that around her.

_Leave him. Return to your ship._

"No," Victoria shook her head. "Please, no."

"A madwoman," Jones grinned. "Or cursed? Either way, dead soon enough."

_You promised._  The voice in Victoria's head was louder than thunder and drowned out every other sound. If the voice didn't stop she'd go crazy for real. Victoria fought back against Davy Jones, defending but never going on the offense.

Will shoved her aside he had a new sword in hand, where he'd gotten it from Victoria didn't know. "Get back to the Pearl!" He shouted at her. "Now! Before you get yourself killed." He parried Jones' sword, grunting as he pushed the Captain back.

Victoria stared at Will, wide-eyed. "I-I-..."

_A touch of destiny._

"Will."

"Go!" Will shoved her back again and Victoria looked at Elizabeth with a frown. "Victoria, go!"

Jack grabbed her, pulling her away from Jones. "You go, right now," Jack said. "If you get yourself hurt or, God forbid, killed..." He looked her in the eyes. "Go." He kissed her on the cheek before he pushed her away.

"Victoria!" James' voice sounded from the Pearl. 

She turned and looked over at her husband. He stood on the upper deck, with his sword in the wrong hand. Victoria turned to her sister, to Will, and to Jack. "Go," Jack told her. He smiled at her. "It's okay," he promised, and Victoria rushed off.

Without turning back she rushed down the stairs to the deck, tossing her sword aside as she reached for the closest line to swing herself over to the Black Pearl. She saw her husband run to the deck, ready to meet her. She looked over her shoulder at Jack.

" _Go_."

She kicked away from the Flying Dutchman, swinging between the ships. She fell forward onto the deck, and her husband was there to catch her. The pain in his arm ignored as he embraced her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She cried, sobbing uncontrollably and then pushed him away before turning to the railing and heaving whatever she had in her stomach into the sea.

Her husband was by her side, gently rubbing circles on her back. "I've got you, love."

She felt sick because of the horrible sights she'd seen and the feeling of shame she felt for leaving her sister and friends behind. She sobbed, and her husband hushed into her ear, consoling her as the rain poured and the ship swayed violently beneath them.

Victoria straightened,  the ringing in her ears was gone, but the guilt and the pain were still there. "I left them," she said. "I left them all there. Just because she told me to." 

"What are you talking about?"

"I could have been there. Lent a hand. I had the chance, but she wouldn't let me." Victoria shook her head.

"Who is  _she_?" James demanded.

" _She,_ " Victoria insisted. "Calypso."

Confusing spread over James' face and he looked over at the Flying Dutchman. More cannon fire and the two masts were free of one another. Barbossa spun the wheel and the Peal headed towards the open sea.

Victoria graphed the railing. "Elizabeth!" She shouted, watching the Dutchman descend deeper and deeper into the maelstrom. 

James pulled her from the railing, and she turned around and cried into his chest. "I killed her! I killed all of them!" She whimpered. Her husband didn't answer, but he held her despite his wounded arm.

_A favor for a favor._

Victoria cursed. The voice had been barely a whisper, but she'd heard it, and she hated it. She pulled herself together, or at least enough to fool herself that she wasn't about to break down completely.

She looked up at James. "Are you all right?" She asked and looked at his arm.

"There's no time to worry about me right now." James shook his head pointed his healthy arm towards the closing maelstrom and the armada beyond it. 

Victoria stared for a moment before she turned back to him and shook her head. "You're no use without your sword arm," she said, and her husband was just about to start protesting when a large shadow suddenly loomed over them. Up in the air, Jack and Elizabeth fell towards the ship, slowed slightly by a piece of a moldy sail that caught the wind. They crashed onto the deck of the Pearl just as the maelstrom seemed to close and disappear along with the Flying Dutchman. "Elizabeth! Jack!" Victoria left James to see to her sister. "You're alive." She hugged them both. 

Elizabeth looked stunned, eyes blown wide and mouth hanging open. "W-Will," she stuttered.

"I'm sorry," Victoria shook her head. 

Jack got up and turned around to look at the armada of navy vessels. The Endeavour approached quickly. Gibbs came running, slapping his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Thank heaven, Jack. The Endeavour is coming up starboard, and I think it's time we embraced that oldest, noblest of pirate traditions."

"I've never been one for tradition," Jack muttered and turned on his heels, walking up to the bridge and taking the helm. "Close haul her! Luff the sails and lay her in irons!" He shouted.

Barbossa protested, "Belay that! We'll be a sitting duck!"

"Belay that belay that!" Jack growled. The crew looked like they wanted to protest but Victoria shoved Gibbs towards his station. 

"Do as he says!" She shouted. "James, get yourself out of the way!" Victoria glared over at the Endeavour as she helped ready the cannons. She spotted Cutler Beckett on the bridge, looking quite confident. Their eyes met. "Hey, you thug!" Victoria shouted, cupping her hands before her mouth to aim her voice. "Fight me!"

Cutler clenched his jaw before he turned to his crew. "If it's a fight they want, then so be it," he said.

He hadn't finished his sentence when the Flying Dutchman reemerged from the sea. Victoria's face split into a grin. On the Dutchman was Will, very much in control of the ship. Victoria cheered for her brother-in-law and then grinned at Cutler. He stared in disbelief at the two ships coming up on either side of his ship, trapping him and his crew in between them.

The soldier next to him looked distressed, "Orders, sir?" he asked. "Sir?"

Cutler looked back at the Black Pearl and met eyes with Victoria again. Even from a distance, he could see the hunger for revenge in her eyes. He knew he'd lost. "Abandon ship," he muttered.

His crew hesitated before they scrambled to get off the ship. Throwing themselves over the railing and into the sea.

Victoria grinned and looked at Jack. "Fire!" Jack shouted, and from the Dutchman, she heard Will issue the same order. 

"Fire!" Victoria shouted, halfway up on the railing as the crew fired the cannons.

Cannonfire thundered as the Pearl and the Dutchman tore the ship between them apart. Splinters, scrap, and ship parts sprayed into the air as the Endeavour was blown to pieces.

Cutler Beckett kept his eyes on the woman on the Pearl. She looked at him again and winked. He couldn't help but smile. He'd been defeated. With Victoria there, he didn't even mind all that much. It had been over the moment she'd stepped foot into his office demanding to see her sister. The moment she'd stepped off the boat in Port Royal, he had already lost. Cutler Beckett admitted it to himself. He'd lost to Victoria.

The Endeavour sank and Lord Cutler Beckett with it. The rest of the Armada ships turned their sails and retreated. 

Victoria cheered and threw her arms up in the air. "They're running!" She shouted and pointed. 

"Aye! They're terrified to take on the combined might of the Dutchman and the Pearl," Gibbs said. 

Jack let out a relieved breath and slumped slightly, relaxing. "I've never seen a retreat from the other side before," he said and smiled at his first mate. "Gibbs, you may fling my hat."

Gibbs' smile widened, and he took the hat Jack offered and flung it across the deck, it landed by the mast along with a handful of other hats. 

Victoria raced across the deck and James beamed at her when she came running, catching her with his healthy arm. They kissed, but James pulled back and winched when his arm got caught between them. 

"S-Sorry!" Victoria hopped back. "I'm sorry, James!"

James smiled at her. "It's all right, I'm all right."

Victoria took his hand. "Now let's have a look at it, shall we?" They sat down on the stairs, and James carefully got out of his coat, and Victoria helped roll the sleeve of his shirt up. "Oh, God," she frowned seeing the arm.

It was spotty with red and purple bruises, and it couldn't be any clearer that it was broken, the way it bent crookedly, and James' fingers trembled. "It's not so bad," James said. "It doesn't even hurt that much."

Victoria knew he lied, but she didn't tease him like she normally would have. She tended to the wound the best she could, with James instructing her. He'd seen his fair share of broken bones and knew what to do. Victoria was rather clueless but did what she could.

"Bloody hell, mate. That doesn't look right at all," Jack looked over Victoria's shoulder as she wrapped her husband's arm with some bandages. "What happened?"

"You do crazy things for love," James shrugged. "Like throwing yourself at Davy Jones."

Victoria smiled to herself. "Scared me half to death," she muttered. "There," she said and admired her handiwork. 

"Thank you, dear," James stood up. 

Victoria left Jack and James and headed over to her sister, who leaned against the railing, staring longingly towards the Flying Dutchman. "It doesn't look so bad when you've got your husband on it, does it?" Victoria asked, standing next to her sister.

"Yeah," Elizabeth chuckled. "I see it now," she said and turned to look at her older sister. "It's finally over... how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great," Victoria beamed at her. "Clean slate, a fresh start. I'm ready to head home."

Elizabeth nodded. "Me too, almost." She turned and looked at the Dutchman again. "Almost."

-

Victoria gave Gibbs a big hug. "It's been fun, Gibbs," she chuckled. "Take care now, yeah?" 

"Same goes for you, Mrs. Norrington. Godspeed," he said with a smile. "Hop on into the boat," he gestured at the longboat. He turned to James and saluted him. "Norrington."

James patted him on the shoulder. "Friends, I hope." He smiled.

Victoria smiled sadly at Jack. He was talking to her sister, saying their goodbyes. Victoria looked past him. In the distance, she could see Port Royal. Home.

Elizabeth climbed into the boat, and Jack turned to Victoria. He wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to her. They hadn't spoken much since the battle, and now the inevitable goodbye had finally come. 

"Mrs. Norrington," he mumbled when she stepped up to him. "It's been an honor."

"Captain Sparrow," Victoria smiled solemnly. "The honor has been mine."

They looked at one another before they hugged. Jack sighed into Victoria's hair, not wanting to let go, ever. "It could have been us, you know." He tried to lighten the mood.

Victoria wasn't really up for jokes. "Yeah..." she mumbled, tightening the hug for a brief moment before letting go. "I'm sorry."

Jack shook his head. "Don't be," he said. "Hadn't it been for that guy over there," he nodded at James, "I'd be asking you to run away with me, or something equally romantic and spontaneous."

"You're a romantic at heart, Jack," Victoria slapped him over the chest.

Chuckling, Jack nodded. He put his hand where she'd just hit him. Wondering if it'd be the last time she'd do that. "I'll miss you," he said. 

"I'll miss you too, Jack."

Jack glanced over at James. He was out of earshot and wouldn't hear. Jack turned to Victoria and let out the words he'd been dying to tell her. "I love you."

A frown spread across Victoria's face and tears formed in her eyes. "Oh, Jack..." she said, sinking her teeth into the bottom lip to prevent herself from sobbing. "In another world..."

Jack rose his hands and shook his head. "I like this one," he said. "And don't be sorry. Be happy." He smiled at her. "For me."

Victoria nodded and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Good luck, Jack," she said before she climbed into the longboat.

Jack nodded at her and looked at James when he walked over. He had his wounded arm in a sling around his neck. It had only been a couple of days, but he was recovering remarkably well. His posture was straight and formal.

"Sparrow," James said and stood before Jack.

"Norrington," Jack bowed his head. "Take care of the missy, savvy?"

James smiled. "I will. You... take care of yourself. I would never hear the end of it if you went and got yourself hurt," he said, nodding towards his wife. 

Jack chuckled softly. "Can't promise anything. Plans change."

"You have plans?" James laughed. Rolling his eyes, Jack shrugged, and James patted him on the shoulder. "Farewell, Captain Sparrow."

James climbed into the boat, and it was lowered into the water. Elizabeth and Victoria rowed the boat towards Port Royal, and Jack watched them from the bridge.

Gibbs soon appeared next to him with a pleased smile. "Where to, Captain?" he asked.

Jack turned and took in the sight of his ship. He smiled to himself and walked to the helm, stroking his hand over the pegs of the wheel. "Quick stop, Mr. Gibbs. Restock and celebrate after such a smashing victory."

"Ah," Gibbs grinned. "Tortuga."

"Aye," Jack nodded. "For the next adventure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last for this time, but be warned. It won't be the last you see of me ;)


	17. Hello, Jackie

"She's beautiful," Elizabeth cooed, smiling down at her niece. "Gorgeous."

"I've never liked the looks of newborns... but this one's the most beautiful one I've ever seen," Victoria murmured affectionately. "She's got her father's eyes, doesn't she?"

James beamed at the two women and his daughter. Little Jacqueline was just a few days old, and Victoria was recovering nicely, already being up and about more than she should. Elizabeth held the little girl in her arms, resting the baby on her own bloated stomach.

Victoria smiled at James. "What do you say, James? Is she everything we hoped for?"

"More," he cooed. "So much more."

With a smile, Elizabeth handed the child over to the father. "Is she eager for a cousin?" She chuckled, rubbing her hand over her stomach.

"I am eager for a little niece or nephew," Victoria said. "Imagine the pitter patter in the house."

"Father would have been overjoyed," Elizabeth said, and her sister nodded. "He would have loved Jackie." She wiggled her finger at the baby.

A sad smile passed over Victoria's face. "He would," she mumbled.

Elizabeth nudged her sister. "And I can't believe you beat me. Both in getting married and starting a family."

Victoria laughed softly. "You've James to thank for that," she said and turned to James with a smile. "Never thought I'd love a man like I love him." She gently caressed his cheek. "Once Jacqueline knows how to walk well get started on those sea legs, won't we?"

"Oh, yes." James nodded, rocking his baby in his arms. "I'm seeing to the construction of The Voyager myself," he said.

"Your very own ship," Victoria beamed with pride. "Lord James Norrington."

Elizabeth smiled. Victoria and her husband were well off, the East India Trading Company had lost its footing in the Caribbean and Port Royal, but James had stepped in and taken charge of what was left. He was the one candidate to replace Cutler Beckett, and he'd accepted the offer if he could command a ship of his own. That allowed him to travel the Caribbean to personally handle business. With one foot in the company and the other on a ship, he could follow the rules as he pleased and the Company would never know. Victoria kept pointing out how he'd become a little bit of a pirate.

Victoria had inherited the Swann estate and lived there with her husband, sister and newborn. The estate would fall into Elizabeth's care when she left Port Royal with James.

"You could always come with us, Elizabeth," Victoria said. "Out to sea."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I promised him that I'd wait for him. I intend to keep that promise."

Jacqueline cooed in her father's arms. James smiled, hugging her close to his chest. Being a father suited him, and he wouldn't trade it for the world. "I'll tuck her in," he said. He hummed softly to the baby as he took her into the nursery.

Victoria smiled at him when he stepped out. Then she turned to her sister. "You must miss Will terribly..." she whispered. "Are you all right?"

"Barely," Elizabeth confessed silently. "I barely know what to do with myself. If it hadn't been for you and James... I'd have been all alone here."

"You know I'm here for you," Victoria reached out and took Victoria's hand in hers. "Anything you need..."

"Thank you."

The two sisters smiled at one another, and Victoria patted her sister on the back. "I'll go and ask Maria to make some tea. Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Elizabeth laughed. "I think."

Victoria laughed too, "I'll ask her to throw something together." She left the room to call on the maid.

Elizabeth sighed once her sister was out of sight. She turned her head and looked out the window towards the sea. There had been no sign of William, but she knew he wouldn't be able to come and see her for almost a whole decade. They'd miss so much of each other's lives. He'd not get to be there and help raise their child. Elizabeth felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes and quickly wiped them away when she heard the steps of her sister coming back.

"She'll come up with something in a jiffy," Victoria said with a smile. She noticed her sister's solemn look and her smile died down. "Are you okay, Lizzie?"

"I'm fine," Elizabeth said, but her voice was shaking. She quickly averted her eyes, but Victoria wouldn't have it.

Victoria crossed the room and embraced her sister, who sat in the chair by the window. "Oh, Lizzie. I'm sorry," she murmured. "This must be hard for you."

Elizabeth nodded. "One day," she said, sniffling. "One day we'll be together."

-

Jack sighed at the sight of Port Royal. He hadn't been there in a long time, and he wasn't very eager to visit the fort again. He turned back around to head back to the docks but was met with a wonderfully familiar smile. Victoria grinned at him. "You think you could sneak around without me noticing?" She asked.

"I'd hoped," Jack said. "You look lovely."

"And you're as handsome as ever, Jack," Victoria chuckled.

Jack eyed her. She was curvier than last time he'd seen her. Her hips wider and her chest impossibly larger. He tore his eyes off her frame and smiled at her. "How did you know?"

Victoria let out a breath. "James has had guards keep their eyes out for you. Got word this morning that they'd spotted a man by your description and I hurried down here." She shrugged. "Where's the Pearl?"

Jack sighed. "Oh, I've lent her out," he muttered. "Unwillingly."

There was a pause, and neither one said anything. Then Victoria threw herself forward, and Jack caught her in a tight embrace. "I've missed you, Jack," Victoria said and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I've missed you," Jack replied silently. They stood there for a while and embraced one another until Victoria pulled away. "Where's that husband of yours?"

"Oh," Victoria chuckled. "Home, waiting for us to come I'd imagine. Babysitting."

Her last word made Jack tense up. "What..." he mumbled, not being able to finish the question and instead trailed off, letting his curious expression speak for itself.

"A little girl," Victoria said with a grin. "And she wants to meet you, Jack."

"I don't know about that," Jack protested. He didn't know if he could take seeing the child. It wasn't his, and he wasn't very fond of children. Then again, it was Victoria's daughter.

Victoria frowned. "Jack, I..." she took Jack's hand in hers. "I'd like you to see her. I've wanted to ask you to... to be her godfather."

Jack looked up in surprise. "Me?" He asked. "That's a terrible idea."

"I know." Victoria smiled. "But I can't think of a better man for the job."

Smiling, Jack puffed his chest out with pride, and suddenly a short visit didn't sound so bad. "Well," he said, "Let's go and see the little one, then."

Jack glanced at his jolly boat. It wasn't much. It barely floated, but it was what he had at the moment. He sighed and followed Victoria up the hill on a small path through bushes and a small wooded area, they ended up right before the former Swann, now Norrington Turner estate. "You're always welcome here, Jack," Victoria said when Jack stopped. "If you need anything, you can come here, and you'll be taken care of."

Jack nodded and followed her inside. He hadn't been in the house before. It was grand and warm. Victoria took him by the arm and lead him up the stairs.

"James?" She called. "Jack is here."

"About time," Jack heard James say. The voice came from a room to the left of the stairs. The door was slightly ajar, and Victoria stopped and urged him to step inside.

Hesitating, Jack stood outside the door for some time before he stepped in.

"Sparrow," James greeted him with a proud smile. Jack nodded as a greeting, not sure what to say.

Victoria stood beside Jack and nudged him in the side. "Go say hi," she whispered. "She doesn't bite... hard," she giggled.

Jack walked to the crib with slow steps. Victoria smiled and went to pick the little baby up. "Jack," Victoria said. "This is Jacqueline. Jackie for short."

He couldn't help it, but Jack laughed and turned to James. "How did those persuasion efforts go?"

"We compromised," James said, "and then she won." He smiled lovingly at his wife and daughter.

Victoria stepped up to Jack. "Say hello to your godfather, Jackie," she cooed.

Jack looked down at the child. He'd expected to be filled with jealousy and anger, but when he looked at the child, he felt nothing but love. This was the child of the woman he loved. It didn't matter if it wasn't his, the child was beautiful, and he loved it just as much as he loved Victoria.

He smiled at Victoria. "She's perfect."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"I-I couldn't-" Jack began, but Victoria was already handing the baby over. The little girl weighed close to nothing in his arms. It was like holding a half-empty bag of coins if Jack had to compare it to something. But what he had in his arms were worth more than all the gold he'd ever had. "Hello, love," he cooed at the girl. She peered up at him with eyes the same color as the sea, deep blue shifting into a light green. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, but I figure mommy's told you all about me already."

James rolled his eyes.

"Was that Jack?" Came another voice from outside the room.

Jack looked up as Elizabeth stepped into view. She had a baby in her arms, even smaller than the one he held. "Mrs. Turner," he greeted her.

Elizabeth chuckled. Seeing Jack in the middle of the bright nursery, holding the little baby girl was something she'd never see. "Hello, Jack."

"You look... well," Jack glanced at the baby in her arms. "So many babies." He looked at James.

"Yes, let's pretend we've all been getting enough sleep these past few months," James sighed.

"I've slept just fine." Victoria smiled. "You fly out of bed before I have time to wake."

James blushed and cleared his throat. "I do not. Here," he turned to Jack, and Jack handed him the baby. "It's time for her bath. Estrella has it prepared." He quickly left the room with Jacqueline in his arms.

Victoria patted Jack on the shoulder. "He's a great father," she said. "She's his little angel."

"Didn't take him for a big softie," Jack grinned.

"You should have seen him when she arrived. I thought he was going to split into two," Elizabeth said.

"I wish I'd seen it," Jack walked up to her. "And who have we here?"

"This is Henry," Elizabeth said.

"Not Jack?" Jack chuckled.

"Isn't one baby names after you enough?"

Jack nodded. "I suppose." He looked at Elizabeth. "How are you holding up?"

Elizabeth nodded slowly. "Busy with the baby. It helps. Takes my mind off of things."

"I see." Jack backed off. "Well, I'd love to stay, but I was just popping in to say hello. Not even that, I was brought here by a very persuasive lady. Really, I was given no chance to say no." He grinned at Victoria, who crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't expect to be handed a baby today, or any other day but here I am."

Victoria wrapped her arm around his waist. "Jack, stay for dinner. Please," she pleaded with him. "You have to tell us what you've been up to."

Jack shrugged. "Oh, nothing interesting I'm sure. I've heard about your husband's lordship, and I'd hate for him to hear something he shouldn't." He smiled. 

Elizabeth and Victoria both chuckled. "I wouldn't worry. I think you might have turned him half-pirate," Victoria said. "But don't say that out loud, he doesn't like it." She leaned closer. "But it's definitely true," she whispered.

"Interesting," Jack rubbed his chin. 

James came back, without the baby. "Where's the Pearl?" He asked, looking out the window.

"Unwillingly lent out," Victoria said. "He's without a ship at the moment."

Grinning, James turned to Jack. He looked unbearably sly, and Jack felt like leaving right there and then. "Here to commandeer one?" James asked, mockingly. 

"Perhaps," Jack said. 

Victoria smiled at her husband and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against Jack. "Is that so?" James smiled, folding his hands behind his back. "You got your eyes on anything in particular?"

Jack furrowed his brows, glancing out the window. "How so?"

"Well," James walked over to the window, and Jack followed. "The smaller ship near the cliffs, happen to be significantly less guarded than the other ships." He nodded at a small vessel in a secluded part of the harbor and furrowed his eyebrows. "Now, I can't for the life of me figure out why it's constantly prepared to sail but never leave port," he said and glanced at Jack.

"Is that so?" Jack hummed, slowly realizing what James meant. 

"Yes," James looked back down at the ship. It was rather small, but it was fast and well kept. "Of course... you didn't hear any of this from me."

"Of course not," Jack said. 

Victoria looked at her sister and wiggled her eyebrows. "Well, I'm sure it's not going anywhere until after dinner," she said, hooking arms with Jack. "Right?"

Jack glanced at her and then at her husband. "I shouldn't think so," he said with a grin. "Well, then." He clapped his hands together. "What's on the menu?" He turned to James with a grin. "I believe you owe me a drink."

"I do, don't I?" James smiled. "Follow me then, as you please."

Victoria and Elizabeth lingered in the room. Henry cooed in his mother's arms. "It's so strange to see him again," Elizabeth said. "I wasn't certain he'd come back."

"I was," Victoria said. "I knew he'd be back one day."

"Yes, well... I'm glad," Elizabeth confessed. "Would you mind taking Henry for a moment?" She asked and handed her son to her sister. "I'll be right back."

Victoria smiled at her nephew and walked over to the window. "Little Henry," she cooed. Elizabeth left the room. "I bet you'll grow up to be the most handsome little bugger around," Victoria chuckled. "A real heartbreaker, am I right?"

The baby cooed and waved his little arms around. Victora chuckled and tilted him towards the window. "You like the view? Beautiful, isn't it?" She murmured. "And it's all yours if you'd like. Yours to sail and explore. You look like a little sailor. Maybe a Captain one day?"

The baby cooed and grimaced in her arms. "Yeah, you like it, don't you?" Victoria chuckled.

She looked up to the door and spotted Jack standing just outside the room. He smiled softly as he stepped back in. "You've a way with men, love," he told her. "Even the tiny ones." He went and looked down at the baby. "Sailor, you said?" he asked and smiled at Victoria.

"I believe so," she said. "Look at him, he'll grow up to be great."

"Much like your daughter," Jack said. "Anything coming from you will know fortune, I'm sure of it." 

Victoria blushed. "Jack," she gushed, bumping her hip into his. 

Jack chuckled softly and then slowly silenced himself down. He unhooked his compass from his belt and glanced at it for a moment. He wondered if he should keep it, it didn't work.. or rather, it worked too well. The needle settled, pointing steadily towards the woman before him. 

"What?" Victoria asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the compass' direction. "What is it?" She smiled.

Jack flipped the compass shut. "Nothing," he said. "I just... Did I mention that I've missed you? I spent some time in Tortuga and remembered that we should go out for drinks together. Properly, now that you're not... growing things."

Victoria laughed and bounced the baby she held in her arms. "I'd love that! I'll drink you under the table, no doubt."

"I'd like to see you try," Jack grinned.

There was another pause, and the two smiled at one another. "Let's head downstairs and get some food in you, yeah?" Victoria said. "You're the guest of honor, love."

Jack smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her as they walked out of the nursey. "Sure there's no noose waiting for me downstairs? Because I've been the guest of honor several times and I'm always treated a snug noose."

"No noose," Victoria promised. "A couple of bottles of rum, though."

Grin widening, Jack pulled her closer. "You know me too well, Mrs. Norrington."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've a brand new obsession for you guys. Dad!Norrington. I might actually faint because I love it so much.  
> Also.  
> This isn't the last you see of Captain Jack Sparrow.   
> I'm not gonna give much away (watch me be dumb and impatient and do it anyway) but I have drafts and chapters ready already. However, they need some work so I'll wait a while and work on that more. I also have more stories on the way and I'm far too excited tbh.  
> Anyway, catch y'all at a later date! Happy holidays if I don't upload until then :)


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